Catalyst
by tempest-races
Summary: A catalyst is not consumed by a reaction, only precipitates it; remaining itself unchanged and yet instigating momentious change in the reagents. Like a catalyst, will they fall out of solution unscathed or will the reaction consume them both?
1. Break Away

**Disclaimer: All characters from The Fast and the Furious belong to Universal Studios and their subsidiaries and any other original copyright holders. New characters found here belong to me. Gem's songs were actually written and preformed in real life by Anna Nalick who is an incredible artist and just released her freshman album on April 19 so I'd highly suggest anyone who likes very original, unique, rock, jazz, blues flavoured music pick it up. If I could write songs like she does I wouldn't be sitting here writing fan fiction. So all props for all songs sung in the story belong totally to her. The small cover of Kelly Clarkson in the first chapter here obviously doesn't belong to me either. I know fiction which includes copy/paste lyrics was recently banned on this site, but as I am giving total credit to the original artist and am merely quoting her work much as I quote the movie this is based on I feel this is within the rules. I'm hoping the new rule is to simply weed out those stories which are ninety percent copied lyrics with one or two paraphrased lines from the author in between them. This is a full length fiction and should rival any novel you find in bookstores for length when I'm done if the first three chapters are anything to go by. If it gets pulled because some hater or fiction Nazi reports me than I guess so be it. Just wanted to get it out of the way here and now.**

**AN: This is a new story I've started. I'm sorry for leaving you all hanging on my other incompletes but I haven't been able to work on them since I started this story on a complete and total whim. It's a bit longer on another site I post on but I'm going to take it slow here and only post one chapter a week or something instead of posting all three in one go. It'll give me a cushion for the dry writing times. I will finish my other stories and hopefully it will be this summer but the heart wants what it wants and right now mine wants to write this story. I'm hoping it will show the growth my writing has undergone and come off with a more mature flavour. Hoping at least. Anyway, lemme know what you think. **

**Catalyst**

_By Tempest Races_

Chapter one – **Break Away**.

_"A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are meant for."_

_♫William Shedd♫_

"I hear you have open mic night here on Thursdays."

Barry, the bartender of the Cobalt Café who just also happened to be its owner, looked up from where he was cleaning glasses and into the very ordinary face of a young woman. She stood at the bar in her jeans and cap sleeve tee shirt (orange sleeves on white, he noted), fidgeting nervously from side to side on flip flop clad feet, a guitar case in her left hand.

"That's right. Are you looking to sign up?"

"Maybe," she paused, taking a deep breath and looking very contemplative. "Does it cost anything to sign up?"

"No. But the list can get full fast. The show starts at eight thirty. If you're going to perform then I'd recommend you give your name to Nalia by eight."

"Who's Nalia?" The woman, whose hair was scraped back into a tight bun on the back of her head and of indeterminate colour asked, looking around the smoky bar and then back into his eyes.

"Nalia is the woman over by the stage. She hosts open mic and is also responsible for booking the talent."

"Ok, thanks," the woman flashed him a tentative smile and started to walk away, guitar case clutched to her chest.

"Hey, miss?" Barry called after her, unsure of why.

"Yes?" She turned back to him, pausing to wait for him to continue.

"Are you new to Los Angeles?"

"Yes, I just moved here from Frisco. I'm not sure how long I'm staying."

"Well, be careful. This can be a harsh place."

"Thanks, I think." The scowl she pulled wrinkled her forehead. She turned to walk away, to finish her trip across the room to Nalia. She turned back to Barry. "Say," she started, walking closer to the bar again. "You don't know of anyone who's hiring do you? I need to find a job. I only got into L.A. a few days ago but it's like no one's hiring."

There was something in her voice, in her demeanour. She'd been down and out before but she still hated asking for help. He was going to catch hell from his wife for this one. Another stray. "Come talk to me. _After_ you sing." Barry didn't know what possessed him.

He did need someone for the night shift, but he didn't normally hire shy girls. Too much hassle when the customers hurt their feelings, and with the crowd his bar got, the shy, timid ones inevitably got their feelings hurt and their toes stepped on. Maybe when she got on stage she'd prove him wrong about just how shy she was. But he didn't hold out much hope. Either for her not being shy or for him not hiring her.

"Ok. I'll just go sign up." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "Sign up to sing." She walked away again and if Barry wasn't mistaken she was turning slightly green.

"Say sweetheart, what's your name?" Barry called after her retreating form.

"Gem. It's Gemmalynn really but Gem will do fine."

Barry only nodded and watched as she turned to finish her path to Nalia.

Gem wondered for the hundredth time what she was doing at an open mic night in one of the most unforgiving cities in the United States of America. Just because she hadn't been booed off stage on karaoke night at her uncle's place back in 'Frisco didn't mean she was good enough to get up in front of a room full of Los Angeles' finest and let loose.

Besides this wasn't karaoke night. She would be expected to accompany herself. There would be no all forgiving soundtrack CD, complete with background singers, spinning in the background this time. This time everyone would hear just how pathetic her strumming on her poor guitar was. She wasn't a musician in her mind. She was a singer. The guitar had been a necessary evil. Hers was cheap, poorly tuned, and ugly, a sticker on its case proclaiming 'mean people breed little mean people'. It had been all she could afford, despite being second hand and purchased at a pawn shop.

She missed her bass guitar. It was back in her room, gathering dust. When it came to bass guitar she _was_ a musician. But a one man band could not be made out of a singer and a bass guitar, not even if the one man was actually a woman. She could have used a keyboard, if she had had one, but keyboards were much more expensive than guitars. She had no problem writing the music for her songs. Keyboard, drum line, bass guitar, lead guitar, it all came to her easily. Composing her songs had never been her problem. Vocals however, were another totally different matter.

She straightened her back resignedly. _You can do this. You can do this_. She wondered how many more times she'd have to tell herself she could do it before she'd start believing it. That or start answering back, _no you can't, no you can't_. She walked up to the woman earlier identified as Nalia and set down her case.

"Hi."

"Hi." Nalia answered back. "You want to sign up?"

"Yeah," Gem fidgeted; a nervous habit her mother had tried break her of and never quite managed. "I mean, I guess so. Yes." Gem took a deep breath. "I want to sign up."

"Ok, you're sure?" Nalia raised one eyebrow in question, her black brow arching over her dark brown eye.

"Yes, I'm sure." Gem forcefully exhaled through her nose.

"Well, what's your name?"

"Gem."

"Gem what?"

"Gem Davis."

"Ok Gem Davis, what are you going to perform for us?"

"A cover song. Is that ok? That I don't have my own song to sing I mean?"

"Sure, people normally want to showcase their own stuff but if you want to do a cover that's fine too."

"I don't have any of my own stuff. I'm not a song writer, just a singer."

All her song writing attempts ended in disaster. They always ended up too stilted, too boring, or just too…_fake_.

She'd had a perfectly average life, right up until she'd decided that a place running her parent's restaurant was not what she wanted for her life. Nothing in her perfectly average existence to that point had given her much to write fantastic songs about. Nothing about growing up in suburbia with a white picket fence to keep the family golden retriever in the yard, going to a good school, getting good grades, being on the track team, singing in her school's choir and being her class president all while mostly flying under the radar had given her anything to write songs about. There just wasn't anything she felt that strongly about. She hadn't really had any real hardship. She'd never been poor, or discriminated against. She'd never been dumped or done the dumping. All her relationships had ended mutually, mostly after a few dates. She hadn't been the most popular kid, but she hadn't been taunted either.

Yep, her life had pretty much been simple. Nothing fantastic ever happened to her but nothing horrible ever did either. Just a string of mediocrity from childhood onward, one average experience after another until her present circumstances. Finding herself living in a rooming house in Los Angeles was about the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her, and even that wasn't song worthy. Lots of people lived in bad housing in LA. It was hardly interesting song material. And when she tried to fake it and write songs about all the exciting things that happened to other people they came out all wrong and it was obvious she wasn't singing about anything important to _her_. Some times she wondered if there was something wrong with her. Something that made her not feel her emotions as deeply as other people. Every song she ever wrote ended up feeling like it was just skimming the surface but she didn't know how to make them go deeper. So she gave up on song writing. She'd make singing her focus, she told herself time and time again. Lots of famous artists didn't write their own songs.

"And a guitar player?" Nalia asked with a pointed glance at the case still at Gem's feet.

"And a guitar player." Her answer was given with a lopsided smile. _Just wait 'til she hears me,_ Gem thought after she answered.

"You can get ready to go on back in the green room. Down that hall," Nalia pointed over by the bar, "to the left. There's a bathroom down there too."

"Ok, thanks."

"You're on second so you go on in about half an hour. You don't answer by the second time I call your name I move on. Ok?"

Gem nodded, already on her way toward the short hall housing the green room. What was she getting herself into?

She didn't have a change of clothes with her so she was going on the way she was. No help for it. She took the pins and elastic out of her hair and let it fall. It finished midway down her back and fell in a smooth waterfall of dark blonde. She'd always found the colour too average to stand out among the sea of Californian blondes around her. Her hair had one important characteristic; it was thick and long. Therefore she could easily hide behind it.

She sat down on the couch provided in the green room, which wasn't green at all, but rather a rich yellow with a terracotta floor and burnt orange furnishings. She pulled her guitar out of the case and strummed it. Wincing at the sound she fiddled with the strings, trying to get some semblance of in tune out of the economy instrument.

She strummed again and the noise which emanated from her guitar wasn't quite so cacophonous. Fingering a chord and running her pick over the strings again she hummed a line and then strummed again.

She sang softly to herself. "_'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable and life's like an hourglass glued to the table. There's no rewind button_." She stopped with her mouth puckered in a look of distaste. "That's horrible." She paused, not liking how the chorus was progressing.

"'_Cause you can't jump the track we're like cars on a cable, and life's like n hourglass glued to the table. You can't find the rewind…rewind…_God who am I kidding? This sucks!" She strummed a loud, dissonant chord with a harsh hand and sighed loudly. "What comes after?" She asked herself aloud as she wondered why she was even trying. It would just be another song she never finished. Another song trying to tell someone else's tale.

She put pick to strings again and played a different chord. Time to try something she knew she could finish, since someone else had written it. It was someone else's tale but everyone knew it was. It wouldn't feel like she was stealing someone else's life when she sang it because everyone knew she was simply borrowing the words, she wasn't trying to pass them off as her own.

"_Du du dud a. Dud dad a da. Grew up in a small town, and when the rain would fall down, I'd just stare out my window…"_ She sang a bit more of the Kelly Clarkson hit and then looked up. She realized the time with a start. She'd be going on the stage in no time. Standing, she set the guitar onto the couch and left the room. She used the washroom quickly and then washed her hands. When that was done she splashed cold water on her face before she raised her eyes to the mirror. Troubled turquoise looked back. "You can do this." She told her reflection. The woman in the mirror didn't look convinced.

"What'd you know?" She asked her reflection irritably. "Now I'm talking to myself. In the lady's none the less." She threw up her hands. "Great! Just great. Can't play, can't write, probably can't even really sing and now you're crazy too. That's just…" She trailed off, realizing that having whole one sided conversations was likely even more crazy than simply making one statement. "Great." She finished her sentence anyway in a small voice.

She went back into the green room and found her guitar accompanied by a black woman who's age she'd put about twenty eight, or about six years older then herself. "You're new here." This new woman said, rather than asked as she held out her hand. "Tamica. Tamica Ward." She introduced herself. "I sing and play piano. You?"

"Gem Davis. I sing and play guitar. One better than the other."

"Which is which?"

"Singing comes before guitar."

"For me, piano comes before vocals. First time on stage?" Tamica asked.

"No. First time at an open mic but not first time on stage. I use to sing karaoke all the time at my uncle's lounge."

"Well, good luck. When you going on?"

"Second."

"That's not too bad. Elliott always goes first. I guess he's just a sucker for punishment because lord knows the boy can't sing, or play, but he tries every Thursday. When he's through the regulars will be so glad he's done if you don't shatter their eardrums you'll do great with them."

"Thanks." Gem said with a smile. It was nice of Tamica to try and make her feel better. She had expected the other performers to be catty at best. Just then the door of the green room opened and a tall blond walked in. She was about five foot ten or so, Gem figured, and willowy in a way a lot of super models would envy. She had an almost feline face, her cheekbones high and fine, her chin a delicate point. Her eyes were a light brown, more an amber really. She looked so unique Gem found herself envious of her, an emotion she didn't normally fall prey to. Why be jealous when there's nothing you can do about it was normally her motto and she didn't normally have trouble sticking to it.

"Celeste." Tamica said coolly. All she got in return from the blonde named Celeste was an equally coolly raised brow, almost as though Celeste was asking who Tamica thought she was to dare talk to her. So the blonde's serene exterior wasn't indicative of her personality, Gem mused. The cat had claws.

It was right around then the blonde's amber eyes found Gem. "New girl?"

"Yeah, I'm Gem."

There was no answer from Celeste. At least, not right away. A minute later she looked up from where she was reading over some sheet music. "You sing?"

Celeste had a voice like tiny, perfect, tinkling bells. It was unmistakable. Gem looked up from her own music in confusion, wondering if the cool woman could possible be talking to her. That was apparently, however, the case. "Yes. And play guitar." Gem gestured to the instrument in her lap, as though Celeste could somehow have missed it there.

"That's nice." Celeste replied dismissively and went back to her music. A young man came into the room a few seconds later. He was slightly red in the face.

"Hey Elliott. Anyone throw anything at you tonight?" Tamica teased but it was obviously not in malice.

"No! I'm getting better." Elliott answered proudly.

"That or you're deafening all the regulars." Celeste said and the tone of her voice clearly relayed her intent to hurt, not gently tease as Tamica had. Elliott's face fell. Gem stood, slipping her guitar strap over her shoulder before slinging her guitar behind her back.

"Either way, thanks for warming them up for me." She held out her hand. "I'm Gem and I'm new."

"Elliott and I'm not." He shook her hand and a ghost of his previous smile came back to his lips. "You're on next?" Gem could only manage a weak nod in answer, her nerves starting to make a return. "She'll be calling you any second. Nalia doesn't like to leave too long between acts."

As though by divine irony the speaker in the green room activated loudly. "Gem Davis, you're up."

"Well, that's me." Gem said and walked to the door.

"Break a leg." Tamica called. Gem tossed her a tight smile over her shoulder as she left the room, closing the door again behind her. She walked down the hall and out into the main room. The bar had filled up considerably in the half hour since she'd gone to the green room to wait.

"Ladies and gentlemen I'd like you to join me in welcoming Gem Davis to the Cobalt. She's new to the city and this will be her first open mic night with us. Give it up for Gem." Nalia clapped and some of the audience joined her. Gem took the stage and stood in front of the mic, scorning the stool provided.

"Where'd you leave the Holograms?" A man called from the middle of the room.

"Will we get to see the Misfits?" Another voice from the same area yelled.

Gem couldn't pick either out of the crowd. She hadn't been looking up when they had made their calls and the room was packed. She just had a vague idea of where they would be. She heard their companions' answering laughs and she swallowed nervously as a wave of chuckling surged around the room. If she messed up they were going to chew her up and spit her out. She gulped, nerves getting the better of her.

_Shoulda picked a stage name_.

She adjusted the mic. Her eyes scanned the room. She picked up tables of single men in groups, a few tables of couples, a few groups of all women. One table caught her eye.

The man was alone. He had hair that might have been any shade beyond medium brown all the way down to black; it was too hard to tell from her position on the stage and his in the dim lights and smoky air. He was slightly hunched over his table, a half drank beer in front of him and three empties on the table around him. _He's really knocking 'em back_. Gem mused to herself. _He wasn't here when I went back to the green room so in half an hour he's had almost four beers_. _Not your problem_. She finished her mental conversation and realized they were waiting on her to start.

She strummed her guitar as she started to play.

♫

She sang in a fairly pleasant voice, he told himself as he watched her start her song. Gem, was it? The song she'd picked to sing did nothing for him. Some pop-y ballad, over played and overdone. Plus, she was killing her poor guitar. She missed a string and he winced, draining his fourth drink and looking around for a waitress to order another.

Her picking technique left a lot to be desired and the way she crushed the neck, as though if she wasn't fast enough she'd miss the chords and if she wasn't strong enough the strings might fight back and get away from her wasn't helping her playing at all.

She missed the next chord but hit the appropriate notes vocally. She wasn't horrible but she wasn't great either. At least that was his assessment of her singing. Her guitar playing was slowly driving him mad. She was a better singer than some of the stuff the Cobalt attracted on open mic night, but not great either. Some of the people who came out thinking they could sing made the worst cases shown on American Idol look like Tina Turners.

"_I'll spread my wings and learn how to fly. I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky. I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change, and break away. Out of the darkness and into the sun, but I won't forget all the ones that I love. I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change, and break away."_

If he wasn't deluding himself she sang better in the chorus then in the verses. Her voice was clearer, easier to listen to. It was like the chorus was her voice, but the stanzas were someone else. She could be one of the good ones, if she was singing the right song. And someone else was playing her abused instrument. Someone who wouldn't choke the life right out of it instead of making it sing. It was a dime store model anyway, not the kind of instrument anyone could use and get a truly good sound out of. But almost anyone would have to be able to play it better then Gem Davis.

_Not your problem, and boy do you have enough of your own already_, the voice in his head nagged. He agreed with himself and looked around for the waitress. He found her on her way to his table where she deposited his next beer. _About time._ He picked up the fresh drink and took a bid swig. _Nope, not your problem at all_.

♫

Gem walked off the stage when her song was done, her knees weak with left over adrenaline. She'd gotten a smattering of applause when she was finished, but not an enthusiastic, standing ovation like she'd wished for.

She headed for the green room and put her guitar in the case. With a preoccupied smile for the others in the room she left, guitar clutched to her front like a shield. She had only been passable and she knew it. She wasn't ever going to find someone willing to provide her with songs to sing and pay her for singing them if she didn't find a way to make her voice sound as good on stage as it did in her bedroom at home.

She went to leave the bar, her head down and her steps leaden. She wasn't going to be getting by on her voice any time soon and that meant she needed a job. Back to the grind, bright and early tomorrow. Surely someone was hiring. If she didn't get a job soon it'd be back to 'Frisco for her, back to her mom and dad's house and back to a job working in their place.

"Hey Davis, where you going?"

The bartender's call snapped her head around. He was calling her. "Home, I suppose. I've done enough damage to these folks for the evening."

"I'm glad to hear that." Barry answered. Gem fought not to let her hurt show on her face. He'd thought her horrible too. He was glad to hear she was done. He continued. "That means you won't be spilling their drinks on them." He tossed her an apron. "Put that on and put the guitar behind here. You ever wait tables before?"

"My mom and dad own a little place back home."

"You twenty one?"

"And a year better."

"Good. Most people come here know what they want and know we make it. There aren't really a lot of drinks I can't make so just take the orders and tell me what you need. We don't run tabs. People pay when you drop off their drinks. Ok?"

"Sure." Gem secured the apron around her waist and passed her case over.

"I'm Barry by the way. I own this place. You do good tonight and I have a place for you. I need someone on the night shift Tuesday to Saturday. I'll even let you take a break on Thursdays to sing in open mic."

"I'll take the job but I don't know about any more open mic nights."

"We'll see. Start with the back tables and work your way to the front ok?"

"No sweat." Gem took the tray he offered her, balancing it expertly on her hand. Raising it over her head she started off, slinking through the packed house, around the tables and patrons like the pro she was. Maybe she couldn't play guitar, or write songs, or sing, but she damn sure could wait tables. She'd spent summers since she was 16 waiting tables for her mom and dad in their little Italian restaurant back in 'Frisco. "Hey guys! She approached a table of young men at the back of the room. "Get you guys anything?"

"A round of rum and cokes." One of the guys answered.

Gem quickly counted the men at the table. "Comin right up." She moved on to the next table, knowing that going back to place the drink order without enough drinks to almost fill her tray wasn't the best use of her time. She got the orders of the other two rear most tables and then went to tell Barry what she needed.

She caught his look of surprise as she rhymed off all the drinks she required, and all without the use of any sort of system writing them down. She was working solely from her memory. She winked at Barry to show she knew she'd shocked him as she slithered off to get another few tables while he worked on the orders she'd already placed.

She worked diligently as Tamica played and sang. A few other people who either knew just went to show up or didn't believe in the green room went on stage after her and still Gem worked the room, taking orders, delivering drinks and taking payment. She was making pretty good tips and she was pleased with her impulsive decision to accept Barry's job offer despite it not really having been the type of work she'd been thinking of.

She was half way up the room, getting the tables in a fairly dark corner off to the side of the room. She got a table of older ladies out on the town, using her mental tricks to remember the assortment of cocktails they'd ordered. She realized next in the order of things was the table with the lone male hunched over his beer. He'd been busy while she'd been working the back. The empties now numbered seven. Dare she offer him number eight? It was up to Barry to cut people off, not her, she decided with a shrug as she headed over to the side of the shadowed table.

"Get you anything?" She asked with a smile. She fought to keep her smile natural, sensing that by times her latest customer looked for trouble and it didn't matter who gave it to him at those times.

"'Bout time you got over here." Her newest patron growled, looking up from his table top into her eyes. He looked surprised to see her, and not the normal waitress but he hid it quickly.

"Sorry 'bout that. It's pretty packed in here. Can I get you another?" She indicated the empty bottles on the table around him.

"Yeah, that would be why I'm still fuckin sittin here."

"Ok." Gem drawled out. What a grumpy bear. Oh well, she figured she'd just have to check back with him more often, the rotation of the room be damned. If he wanted to get shit faced it was none of her business. "Coming right up."

She wiggled her way back to Barry and told him what she needed for drinks. Several fruity cocktails for the first wives' club, and one Corona for the lone bear in the corner. "What is with that guy?" She asked as she stood at the bar a moment, watching Barry make the two Singapore Slings she needed for the table of ladies.

"What guy?" Barry asked as he spared her a glance up from where he was adding club soda to the tall glasses filled with gin and fruit juices.

"The grumpy guy sitting alone. The guy the Corona is for."

"Oh," Barry sighed, "that guy." He shrugged. "I dunno really. He started coming in here about, oh, eight months ago I suppose. He's here almost every night, drinks a few Corona and leaves. He never says much. Can be a bit surly but he's never rowdy and doesn't create hassles so." Barry trailed off with a shrug. It was like he was saying the guy's money spent just a well as anyone else's so if he wanted to end up with a killer hangover every day it was no one's business but his own.

"Ok. I figure I'll check with him a bit more often then the other tables. He seems pretty cranky without a cold one in his hand."

"Fair enough." Barry said with a smile as he finished adding the grenadine to the last drink for the women and finally with a deft movement popped the top off the bottle of Corona. "There you are Davis. Keep it up kid."

"Off I go." Gem hoisted her loaded tray and made her way back to her tables, depositing the colourful drinks for the ladies before turning to deliver the golden brew to the man she nicknamed 'grumpy bear'. She found him with a five dollar bill held out as she turned to set the beer in front of him. She took it and started to make his change.

"Keep it." He said gruffly, not even looking up at her.

"Thanks." Gem chirped back, determined to remain cheerful in the face of his gloom. He grunted in answer. She slid off with an inexplicable grin on her face. She just knew her cheerful answer had somehow irritated her grumpy bear and the knowledge about made her night.

She delivered a few more beer to him over the course of the evening and she kept a running count of the empties on his table. The count grew from seven to twelve. As she was about to go offer him lucky number thirteen she heard Nalia's voice come over the PA system and blinked like a mole as the house lights came up.

"Thanks for joining us at the Cobalt Café for open mic night. We do it all again next week, same time same place so I hope to see you all again. Don't forget we have live entertainment Tuesday to Saturday here at the Cobalt so don't be shy, come see us again. If you've been drinking don't drive, let us call you a cab. Have a good one folks."

So that was it, Gem mused. First night over and done with. She was fairly pleased with her take of tips. A good bit of it was thanks to grumpy bear and she knew it. Every time he paid her with a five and refused his change. It was like he knew he was behaving badly and felt bad, but not bad enough to stop doing it.

She watched as the object of her thoughts got unsteadily to his feet and fished in his jeans pocket. He pulled out not a cell phone as Gem had been hoping, but a set of keys. She skirted the crowd and walked up to Barry at the bar. "Does he always drive home after a dozen beer?"

"Who?" Barry asked distractedly.

"Grumpy Bear." Gem realized her mental nickname for the man didn't mean anything to Barry. She corrected herself. "The guy who sits in the corner drinking the Corona."

"I guess. He doesn't normally drink that much. Maybe you'll have to watch how often you go back there. Maybe he drank more just to see your smiling face more often." Barry teased.

Gem gave him a sarcastic smile. "Shouldn't someone offer to call him a cab?"

"Sweetheart, if you want to try and convince that man not to drive you go right ahead. Just don't expect to come out of it without a headache. Let me give you some advice. Drinking and driving is wrong, and stupid. But as far as people doing it goes, if you think he's a real danger to the motoring public try to find out what he drives and I'll phone it in to the LAPD. It's not worth having someone go crazy in the bar over it. Ok?"

"Sure. He just seemed a bit intoxicated and he had car keys in his hand."

"That one is always a bit intoxicated. He comes in here almost every night we're open and gets drunk almost every night we're open. But he keeps to himself so," Barry looked up into Gem's eyes, "we just mostly live and let live around here."

"Fair enough. I'll start cleaning up the tables."

"Not your job sweetheart. You did good tonight. Should I pay you in cash or will I be seeing you tomorrow?"

"If you want me back I'll be here."

"See you at six then. What you have on now is a little casual, if you know what I mean."

"For sure. I didn't think I was coming to work, you know?"

"Sure, sure. I'm sure you'll figure something out." Barry handed over her guitar case.

"Ok. Night."

"Night." It was clear Barry's mind was already back on finishing his counting.

Gem started toward the exit, her tip money filling her pocket. She walked around the side of the bar, to the lot where she'd left her car. She unlocked the door and slid behind the wheel after chucking her guitar into the back seat. Sliding the key into the ignition she turned. All she got was click, click, click. "Oh great! Don't do this to me. Please." She begged her car. She tried again.

Click, click, click.

"I hate you car." She slid back out of the dusty Honda and popped her hood. She got it open onto the prop rod and looked down into the engine compartment. She had no idea what she was looking at. "Why is it that everyone pops the hood to look at the engine when the car won't start, whether they know what they're looking at or not. I don't know what any of this stuff is." She sighed. "Why in the name of the good lord won't you start?"

"I don't know. What's it doing?" Someone asked from behind her.

Gem jumped at the stranger's voice, her head hitting the open hood. "Ouch." She rubbed the top of her head as she turned around. "You scared the life outta me just then."

"Sorry. What's your car, and I use that term loosely, doing?"

"It's more a question of what it's not doing." Gem let her gaze travel up the stranger's legs from his feet to the plain buckle on his belt, up over his muscled chest encased in a dark coloured sleeveless shirt to his face. She found herself looking into a pair of slightly unfocused eyes that were some sort of light colour. In the gloom it wasn't clear just what colour they would be. She realized she was once again face to face with her grumpy bear.

"Ok, what's it not doing?" He asked her, his voice starting to show his trademark irritation.

"Starting. It goes click, click, click then nothing happens."

"Do you have a flash light in there somewhere?"

"I might have one in the trunk. One sec." Gem went and opened her trunk, rooting for a light to offer her grumpy bear. Her rational brain was telling her it was stupid to be out in the dark parking lot with a strange man who knew her car didn't run. But on the other hand he seemed so confident when he asked for the flashlight. If he could fix her car and save her a trip to the repair shop she'd be very grateful. Money was still going to be tight, job or no. She felt around, knowing there was one of those disposable lights in her trunk someplace. She felt around behind her sub enclosure and her fingers finally stumbled over the hard plastic case. "Ah ha!" she held it up with a flourish. "Got behind the subwoofer, like every other small thing I ever put in there and then end up needing."

"Great." The man took her light and started poking around the maze of things in the engine compartment of the car. He wiggled some things and tugged on other things. "Try it now."

Gem did as he asked but still only got click, click, click. "Sorry, still nothing." She called.

"Ok, you got anything I can use to hammer in that car?"

"The tire iron from the spare."

"It'll do. Can I have that?"

Gem got out of the car to retrieve the implement from the trunk. She was putting an awful lot of trust into a drunk stranger in a dark parking lot. In for a penny, in for a pound, she told herself with a shrug. "Here you go." She handed it over. "What are you going to do with it?"

"I'm gonna hit your starter. Try to start the car while you here me clanging under the car ok?" The man asked as he hit the tarmac on his back beside her beat up Honda.

"You don't have to go through this much trouble. It's ok. I didn't know you'd end up rolling in the dirt over it."

"It's ok, really. I'll hit it, you start it." He wiggled farther under her car, iron in his arm.

Gem heard a metallic clang as he hit something metal under her car with the metal tire iron.

"Try it now." He called. Gem tried the car again. She got the same clicking noise the first try but on the second try it grumbled a bit then turned over.

"Woo!" Gem called from the front seat, watching as her good Samaritan stood up. "Thank you so much. Let me give you something for your trouble." Gem started to fish in her pocket, intending to give the man a few bucks for his trouble.

"Don't worry about it." He replied, handing her tire iron in through her open window. "I didn't really do much. You're gonna need a new starter. I didn't fix it; I just forced it to work. It needs to be rebuilt or it's just going to keep letting you down."

Gem felt her face fall in her disappointment. "Will that cost much?"

"Not necessarily. One second." He rooted through his pockets, eventually pulling out a card. "Come see me here tomorrow sometime and remind me who you are. We'll work something out."

Gem took the card and looked down at it. It was a business card, judging by the graphic on it for a garage of some sort. In the upper corner there was a red sports car of indeterminate make. The only information it contained was simple. A phone number and a short name in bold, simple font.

**Toretto's.**

"Say, can I give you a lift someplace?" Gem asked on impulse. One last ditched effort to be a good Samaritan to the man who'd done her a good turn.

"I have a ride." She watched a steely glint enter his eyes.

"If you're sure."

"Yeah. Don't forget the car might work for awhile but sooner or later it's going to let you down again. Get it looked at, if not by us then by someone."

"I will." Gem assured him and watched as he walked over to where she assumed he had parked his own ride. Suddenly she didn't want to know what he drove. She didn't want to hear on the news that a car like his had been scraped up off some highway. If she didn't know what he drove then she could play ostrich with any information she might receive. She left the parking lot, careful not to look back.

When she got home she went right to bed, scorning the shower despite her longing for a nice hot one. As she crawled into her cool sheets after donning her 'Lucky Bear' Carebears night dress she had thoughts of another bear altogether on her mind. Was he as beautiful inside as she instinctively felt? Was the gruff exterior all a front to hide the caring man inside? She fell asleep with thoughts of her beautiful stranger on her mind and fantasies of what he was really like ran through her head all night long as she slumbered.

TBC…


	2. In My Head

**Catalyst**

By - _TempestRaces_

Chapter 2 – **In My Head**

Gem woke up around ten am and looked out her bedroom window. It was a bright, sunny day. She got up and flipped on the radio while she started to think about getting dressed. The unfortunate thing about living in a rooming house was the lack of privacy. She didn't have her own bathroom or her own kitchen so she had to wait for her turn for almost everything.

She was hoping, now that she had a job, to either get her own place or find someone looking for a roommate. Her only concern was getting a roommate who wasn't a psychopath. She didn't know anyone in Los Angeles. If she couldn't find someone she had a passing knowledge of to vouch for a potential roommate how the hell was she supposed to move in with them? On blind faith they wouldn't kill her or be a rapist or axe murderer?

Thinking of the strangers of L.A. brought her grump from the Cobalt back to mind. She wondered if he made it home ok. His eyes had been so unfocused when he'd stood up from banging around under her car last night. She turned up the radio, waiting on the news to come on. She'd listen to see if there had been any bad car accidents.

Although what it would prove if there had been she'd never know. There were so many people who drove in L.A. that it resulted in a lot of car accidents. She had already seen this first hand and she'd only been in L.A. a few days. There had just been something about her stranger that had made her hope he got home ok. It wasn't just his chronic bad mood which had obviously been caused by something, or the quick way he'd offered her help even though he'd hardly been civil to her the whole night while she waited on him either.

There was something about him. Something she saw in him reminded her of herself. The same down and out but not finished air she knew she gave off was present in her stranger. She figured she had to find out his name. She couldn't keep calling him grumpy bear forever, not even in her own head. He was nice under the gruffness and she just sensed it. She was almost embarrassed to recall the dreams she'd had about him in the night.

She started to hum a tune to herself, realizing what she was doing a few bars in. "Oh no here we go again." She said to herself as she sat down with her notebook. Another start to a song she'd never finish. Apparently she'd never learn either.

She hummed, not sure what the first line would be. She wrote the part she already had in her head.

_I wonder if truly you are as beautiful as I believe_.

She thought about how he'd helped her the night before, how he'd been like a guardian angel getting her car running and getting her safely out of the parking lot instead of leaving her stranded. She went back to the top of the page and began to write again.

_That's not half bad_, she told herself as she looked at what she'd written. It was only one stanza but so far so good. What else about the whole situation was song worthy? She answered her question quickly. _Last night was the first night you didn't feel lonely and scared while you tried to fall asleep_. _You kept hearing his voice, so gruff and grumbley_, _but it made you feel safe,_ she answered herself farther. So now all she had to do was put that into her song. She thought about it for awhile and after several erased starts ended up with something she was fairly happy with.

She smiled as she read what she had so far. It was pretty good by her normal standards. She heard it in her head with simple piano and a more complex lead guitar then she knew she would be capable of playing herself. She started to jot down ideas for the piano score and guitar tabs. Before she knew it she had the whole song done as far as the accompanying instruments. She'd written in the bass guitar, a turn of wishful thinking on her part she knew. But since she'd also written in a drum line and didn't know anyone who played a drum set she figured she was entitled. Now she just had to finish the lyrics and she'd finally have written a song. But she'd gotten to this point before and still had the project end in disaster.

One more verse, she told herself. She wanted to get as much done while she was actually able to do it as she could. She loved the line under the weight of your wings very much. It was like it acknowledged that it wasn't easy being someone's protector. It was a burden, just as it would be in real life. She knew it wasn't easy being the one who felt responsible for someone else. You felt like you had to protect them from every hurt; every bad experience and it became a weight on your soul, always on your mind. Was it that kind of responsibility her stranger was running away from with his plethora of Corona every night?

So far they'd only met on her side of the world. He'd been in her bar, fixing her car. What was his life like? She thought she knew already. It was amazing to her how much she'd speculated about his life already, how much she'd guessed about his thoughts.

She cracked her knuckles and sat back from the table with a contented sigh. Two good verses and a chorus. She was on a flying roll! She'd never gotten so far with one of her own songs. If she got all the music the words never came and if she got far with the lyrics the music never matched. This song was all coming together. She glanced at the clock and then did a double take. If she was ever going to get her car looked at before work she needed to start getting ready now. She cast a longing look at her notebook. She really wanted to finish her song while she was on a roll but she didn't have time. She'd been writing for hours, much longer then she'd even realized.

She left her sheet music and notebook scattered over her table and grabbed her shower supplies and clothes for the day as she dashed to the bathroom. After the quickest shower of her life her hair was in a high ponytail and she was wearing black slacks and a red v neck top. It would carry her through her meeting at the repair shop into her shift at the Cobalt so she wouldn't have to worry about making it home to change if she had to take public transit. She didn't know how long it took to replace a starter. She gathered up what cash she had for the bill and headed down to the main floor of her building.

She found the building manager and asked him if he'd ever heard of a Toretto's Garage. He hadn't but suggested Gem call the phone company with the phone number and get them to reverse look up the address on file. She did so and with address and directions to that address in hand she went out to her beat up grey Honda. To her surprise it started right up. It was tempting to forget the man's advice and just see how long she could push the car before it died again. She really couldn't afford the money to replace anything right now and the car was running again, wasn't it?

_But he seemed so confident it would break down again_, a voice in her head nagged. She played her own devil's advocate.

_He was also drunk. Who knows if he was right_?

_Do you want to find out tonight in a dark parking lot while all the' thank god it's Friday' drunks pass by you?_

The answer was no so she headed off toward the part of town the address she'd been provided was in. The garage, when she found it was a nondescript brick square building with a set of garage doors at one end and a few high, multi-paned windows. A dusty blue sign proclaimed it to be Toretto's over the door and there were a few cars parked around the back. Some of them were very fancy and obviously worth a lot of money. It reassured Gem to know people with cars worth so much were still willing to have them repaired by the garage her customer had recommended.

Gem parked the Honda among the other cars and headed into the building via what she hoped was the front door. She found herself in a small, shabby room with a few plastic chairs and a scarred countertop with a battered old cash register perched on it. A bell had rung over the door when she'd walked in but no one had come to see who she was yet.

She rubbed her sweaty palms on her slacks, nervous about both the cost of having her car repaired and meeting her grumpy stranger in sober daylight. She remembered finding him attractive in a rough and tough sort of way. That had been in a dark, smoky club. Would he look the same in the harsh afternoon sun? Would she look different to him? After all he'd be sober and the light was harsh compared to the soft lighting from the night before. Would he be like most men and find her looks too plain for a second glance? _You don't know he doesn't already have someone anyway_. She nagged herself.

Like someone finally realized they had a customer a young man came through a door Gem assumed led to where ever they actually worked on cars and walked up to her.

"Hey. Help you?"

"Yes, my car broke down last night and the man who got it going for me told me to take it by so he could give me an idea what it would cost to fix."

"What was his name?"

"Whose?" Gem asked, not following the line of questioning. Why was that relevant?

"The man who told you to take your car here." The youth answered back, seeming like he was suspicious of her.

"I didn't get his name. He gave me this card." Gem held it out and the boy took it.

"This doesn't tell me who this guy was though. What did he look like?"

"I don't know." Gem started. How did she put what the man looked like to her into words that wouldn't make another guy look at her like she was insane? She couldn't say he was a nice looking man with an ok butt without getting those 'lady you're crazy' looks she was getting accustomed to. "He was tall, like maybe six feet. Brown hair, light coloured eyes. Kind of moody." She really hoped she wasn't overstepping her bounds with her description of his personality. The suspicion left the boy's face.

"That'd be the boss, one sec." He crossed back over to the door of the shop area and hauled it open. "Hey C, you got a visitor."

A muffled reply was returned. The youth turned back to Gem. "You can have a seat if you want; he said he'd be up in a minute. I'm Cory, by the way."

"Gem." She answered holding out her hand. Why was he introducing himself to her?

"Nice to meet you. The big guy has never brought a girl around before." There was a speculative gleam in the kid's eyes.

"He didn't bring me around. He told me he knew of a garage I could take my car to and since he got it going I assumed he knew what he was talking about. It's not like you seem to think."

"Got ya." Though his answer agreed with her his eyes didn't and Gem rolled her own. Just then the separating door opened again and her grumpy bear strode through.

"Yeah?" He asked shortly, no sign of remembering who she was showing on his face. Cory excused himself back into the shop as Gem stood up.

"Hi, we met last night. Grey almost a car Honda that wouldn't go. You told me to bring it by after you got it running. Something about a starter?" She tried to jog his memory without coming right out and reminding him he was loaded and seemingly didn't remember her. Awareness started to spread across his face.

"Oh yeah. I really didn't think I'd be seeing you again."

"I just moved to L.A. and I wouldn't have a clue where else to take it. You seemed to know what you were talking about when you were banging away on the thing last night."

"Yeah, we can get it fixed up. I'll have to call around and see if I can get the parts for it today or not though."

"Ok, if you could give me an idea how much first? I don't have a lot of money to spend on the car right now."

"Sure. Have a seat."

Gem sat and the man picked up the phone. She watched him talking on the phone, his voice too low for her to hear what he was saying.

"I can get the parts for it today. It won't take that long to do since we're not that busy right now."

Gem looked up with a start. She hadn't even realized he was off the phone. "Ok, great. Now give me the bad news."

"It'll only cost you 25 bucks."

"Really? Come on." She cajoled, trying to get him to admit he was playing with her. "You must be joking. Nothing that goes wrong with this car is ever that cheap to fix. All the parts for it cost more because it isn't domestic. Or so my brother is always telling me when he's fixing it."

The man known as 'C' to his employees only nodded. "Well, I can rebuild the starter and that's about how much the rebuild parts will cost."

"You have to charge me something for the labour."

"No I don't." He sighed, his gaze falling to the countertop for a moment as he reined in his temper before he met her eyes again. "I'll do it for the cost of the parts, ok?" He asked irately.

Something in his eyes told her he was doing it more to make up for how much of a jerk he'd been the night before and how much of a jerk he was likely to continue to be in the future. She wasn't really in a position to argue too hard with him with her money so tight.

"If you're sure about that. I don't mind paying whatever your going rate is for the labour since the parts aren't going to cost much." She gave him one last out to charge her something reasonable for his time. She watched as storm clouds crossed his face. _Uh oh_.

"I said I was sure. Jesus! Do you want it fixed or not?"

"Yes, I want it fixed." Gem answered in a small voice.

"Ok, your name was...?" He waited for her to fill in her name. She was a bit hurt he didn't remember but she did remember just how much he'd had to drink. She thought maybe she was more hurt by his snappish behaviour when seconds before they'd been doing ok.

"It's Gemmalynn Davis. Two m's two n's." She told him in a stuck up tone, waiting for him to write it down. He gave her a look, telling her he knew full well the name she'd been going by up until that point had not had nearly as many syllables. He waited, looking at her expectantly and she tried to wait him out. He won and she relented. "Gem will be fine. Gem Davis." She watched him write her name down on a slip of paper and add grey 1990 Honda Civic to the information he was collecting.

She wanted to say something smooth and urbane to him. She wanted a slick way to find out his name but just as when she'd been due to perform her nerves were causing her to clam up. She had to know his name. What was C short for?

"So you know my name, do I get to know yours?" She asked, trying not to cringe from how idiotic she sounded. _Good with pick up lines you aren't!_ He looked up, quirking one brow.

"Do you need to know that for me to fix your car?"

"I don't know, I've never had a stranger fix my car before. My brother always fixed it for me back home. He was one of these amateur mechanics. So do people whose cars you fix often know who you are first, or do they let strangers under their hoods?"

When he started to laugh she looked at him like he was insane. What had she said that was so funny? He looked about ready to pee his pants he was laughing so hard. She shifted from one foot to the other without taking her eyes off his quaking shoulders. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "What is so funny?"

"You're gonna let a stranger under your hood." He snickered a few more times. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry. You're right, it ain't that funny. Sorry. It's been a hell of a day and I just…Stranger under your hood." Another snicker escaped. He couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed so hard. _Under her hood_. Of course she wasn't half bad looking and it had been a while since he'd been under anyone's 'hood'.

When she realized what he was implying 'under her hood' was a euphemism for she giggled herself even as she felt her cheeks heat up. "I never thought of that as another way to say _that_ before. I'm totally car challenged." She looked up and met his eyes. They glistened with the tears his laughter had brought. They were beautiful, a unique crystalline blue, unlike hers which couldn't make up their mind if they wanted to be green or blue and normally settled on a nondescript shade in the middle. She suddenly felt woefully inadequate next to him. He was so good looking and she was so plain. Why would he want to get to know someone like her?

He stuck out his hand. "I'm Vince."

"Vince? Is that your real name?" She asked as she shook his hand.

"Yes it's my damn real name! Why would I give you a fake name?"

"Cory called you C." Gem trailed off, amazed by his drastic mood changes. She hadn't meant to annoy him with her innocent question. His mood changed with more violence than a pregnant woman's.

"Oh, yeah." If Gem wasn't mistaken Vince was looking just a touch embarrassed. "It's from a nickname. Not something I get called very often anymore but the guys here shortened it to C."

"What's C stand for?"

"Nothin'."

No matter how much Gem cajoled and even, wonder of wonders, flirted, her new mechanic would not fill her in on his nickname. "Ok, I surrender. You can keep the secret." Gem checked her watch. "Oh shoot! I have _got_ to jet. I need to be at work for six and it's already four thirty. I need to know where I can get on the bus! Oh, and what bus I need to get on."

"Slow down girl. Where do you need to go?"

"Work." She looked at Vince like he was slow before she realized that a lot of people likely had more then one job in L.A. "The Cobalt Café."

"Ok, if you promise not to let your head explode I'll get Cory to drive you and I'll drop your car off to you ready to go tonight, ok?"

She'd learned her lesson about acting like he was doing too much for her. He didn't take it well. "I'd be very appreciative."

"Ok, see you then."

"Sure, see you then." Gem turned around and walked out of the shop. She stood on the sidewalk for a minute almost not aware of where she was. When she came back to reality she realized she likely should have waited in the shop for Cory. Now he was going to have to come get her out front. She shook her head with a giggle. There had never been a time when anything had made her act so scatterbrained before, let alone a guy who'd thrown her for such a loop.

She was one strange chick, Vince thought as he walked back into the shop area. Miss Gem Davis can't play guitar. He'd be doing her a favour if he refused to fix her damn Honda. The thing was on its last legs anyway. But instead he was fixing it, for free, and letting Cory drive her to work.

He felt interested in something for the first time since he took over running the garage and it scared the hell out of him. Scared him more then anything he could think of in forever. He'd existed with nothing more than a fog of liquor and headaches for so long he didn't know how to change how he lived. He knew people worried but there was nothing he could do about it.

What was it about Gemmalynn Davis that made him wonder if he really wanted to know all there was to know about her or if he wanted her to go away so he could forget someone had made him feel something again? What happened to the days when all that mattered was winning races, getting loaded and taking home the first girl who looked easy enough? Was that what was appealing to him about Gem Davis? Her everyday look? The fact that her attitude was practically the antichrist to that of the average race chick? The fact something about her innocent, naïve manner reminded him of how Mia had used to be, before everything?

He knew he got drunk too much. He knew he shouldn't drive that way. It was just that none of it mattered. Hadn't since his whole world had simply fell apart one day and had been fractured too badly to put back together. He just existed day to day. He got up each day and opened the garage. Not because he wanted to but because someone had to. He ate three meals each day because they appeared in front of him at regular intervals. He got dressed because he knew no one would want to see him without his clothes, not anymore, and he showered because no matter how detached from the world he got he couldn't stand to stink. He just barely skimmed the surface of life, just existed, and had been if not content that way than at least ok with it until last night.

If he had to pinpoint when he'd taken an interest in Gem it wouldn't be when she got up on stage and tried to perform. He'd felt something vaguely akin to pity when those idiots in the center of the bar had made fun of her name but that wasn't what had intrigued her to him. No, that had happened when she'd kept up her chipper, happy attitude in the face of his bad humour. Most people just tried to be quiet and inconspicuous around him so he'd leave them alone. She'd kept up the perky here you go and thank you's all night long. She didn't let his bad mood get her down. In fact he would almost have to be sure she'd gotten more upbeat just to rub his nose in it. She was shy, she was timid, but in her own way she'd stood up to _him_. Lately people he'd known his whole life wouldn't so much as contradict him if he told them the sky was red he was in such a perpetual bad mood.

Even though she'd gotten up on stage in front of a group of strangers and pretty much sucked she'd still kept up a cheerful facade. She'd barely gotten any applause and she had to know her rendition of Kelly Clarkson hadn't gone over very well. Vince was inclined to think that Simon would send her home after she sang one note. It wasn't that her voice stank; it was just that her whole act lacked feeling and she certainly had no business playing a guitar. Ever. That was one thing he knew for sure. He might be the pot calling the kettle black over lacking feeling but he sure knew how to play a guitar, and how to spot someone who didn't, and Miss Davis did not know the first thing about it. She was just girl with an ok face and an ok voice in a sea of people who sang ok with average looks. There wasn't anything about her act that made her stand out. She was just another girl singing someone else's song.

So why did he find himself looking forward to dropping off her car and letting her perk her way through his Mr. Surly act all night?

Gem arrived at work a half hour early thanks to how young Cory drove as he navigated L.A. traffic. "Thanks for the lift." Gem told the boy as she stood up out of his car. She wanted to fall on her knees and kiss the ground she was so glad to come out of warp drive.

"No sweat. See ya." He was off like a shot. Gem watched him go; hoping not to see that a purple whatever he was driving was splattered across a bridge abutment on the evening news.

She pushed into the Cobalt and sighed with pleasure as the A/C hit her overheated body. Cory's car didn't have air. He said that it weighed too much and used up too much horsepower so the car's previous owner had removed all of the components to save the weight. Gem figured in her world she'd rather be slow and cool then slightly faster and sweaty.

"I was wondering if you'd be back, or if you'd wake up this morning with your wits back." Barry called from behind the bar.

"I have my wits, always did. They're telling me a job now that lets me make a few bucks with tips is better than holding out for something else."

"I bet you didn't plan to come to L.A. to wait tables."

"No, I came to L.A. to sing," Gem was honest, "but I didn't see anyone rushing to pay me for singing for them either, and a girl's gotta eat. Besides, your customers were nicer than some I've dealt with."

"That was Thursday night. Don't hold out on it being like that in here all the time. Tonight won't be too bad but tomorrow we clear the tables and set up a DJ booth and dance floor. I have a guy who comes in and spins dance music." Barry grimaced. "It's not what I like for my bar but it makes a few more bucks then the open mic and showcase nights we do through the week. Gotta pay the bills, but it attracts a different sort."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. When will it get busy?"

"Starts around eight."

"What should I do until then?"

"Wipe off the tables, familiarize yourself with the drinks we offer, help me clean glassware, really the same things you'd do to prep a restaurant for the next rush. Someone needs to get the lemons sliced up, limes, fill the cherries, that type of thing."

"I'll start cleaning the tables if that's ok."

"Sure. The other girl on tonight will be in around seven and she'll help finish up the prep."

"Sounds good." Gem went and picked up a bottle of cleaner and a few towels and started to wipe off the tables. As she wiped she started to hum to herself. She was humming the piano line of her song, unable to get it out of her head. She was feeling anxious about finishing the words. If she managed it would be the first time she would honestly be able to say she wrote a whole song from start to finish.

Humming the cadence of the accompaniment was helping her figure out words that would flow with the music and let her convey what she wanted to say with her song. She knew her overall theme was that in her head anyone could be anything she wanted them to be.

But there was more to it then that and she knew it. She knew it wasn't about _anyone. _It was about her making Vince into what she wanted him to be in her head. And about how she was worried he wasn't anything that she imagined in reality. But in the long run it didn't matter so much to her because thinking he was what she wanted him to be filled a void in her world.

She hummed the music for the verse again and thought for a moment. She was almost itching to get home and get writing. She was just so alive and inspired for the first time ever.

"You _are_ crazy. You got inspired over some guy who was rude to you all night and helped you out with something simple with the stupid car. You're living in a dreamland since you got to Los Angeles Gem Davis and it's all going to come crashing down around you when you find out the truth, that this guy isn't anything you've built him up to be. You're going to be totally disappointed then. And you have _got_ to stop talking to yourself." Gem looked around, relieved to find no one had heard her mumbled ramblings to herself.

She finished up the tables and started cutting lemons into wedges. That was where the other girl found her. The other girl turned out to be a woman of about forty with short brown hair framing a pixyish face and deep brown eyes. "So Barry finally broke down and hired me some help did he?"

"I guess so." Gem held out her hand and introduced herself.

"I'm Barbara." The other lady answered. "I got so tired trying to keep up with the crowd all by myself. We always had another girl but she was kind of flaky, couldn't count on her to show up half the time."

"Well, you won't have that problem with me. I need the money too bad."

"Didn't I see you up singing last night during open mic?" Barbara asked, awareness spreading across her face.

"That was me." Gem sighed. "I won't be repeating it any time soon so you don't have to worry about your poor eardrums."

"You weren't half bad girl. The only way you're gonna get better is if you practise."

"I'll stick to practising at home from now on."

"It's not the same. You need the audience there so you can get use to acting the same way for them as you would if you were home alone."

"I guess." Gem agreed without much conviction and changed the subject. "You work here long?"

"About ten years. I've known Barry and his wife forever. What about you, what did you do before you started here?"

"I worked for my folks back home in 'Frisco."

"Why'd you move to L.A. then?"

"I wanted to be a singer. I've been re-evaluating my options since last night."

"You didn't do as bad as you think. Everyone is their own worst critic. Just keep working at it and you'll find it gets easier and easier."

"I guess I shouldn't give up so easily." It was an admission made without enthusiasm. Gem had very little desire to subject herself to more catcalls and ridicule. It definitely hadn't been what she'd had in mind when she'd come to Los Angeles to sing.

The first patrons started to wander in as Gem and Barbara finished up with the garnishes for the drinks and Barry emerged from the back room.

As much as he'd wanted to go down to the Cobalt the second he'd finished Gem's car he'd forced himself to go home first. Forced himself to eat the food that had been thoughtfully left for him in the oven to keep warm. Or at least forced himself to pick at the food left for him, even though he didn't want to eat. Forced himself not to rush his shower. He wouldn't let himself rush after some girl.

He hoped she was really as car clueless as she claimed because once he'd gotten under her car he hadn't been able to let all the safety concerns he had with it slide. Gem Davis was going to find herself the unknowing owner of a new set of front brake pads and quite a bit of weld on her exhaust. How she hadn't asphyxiated herself to death on the fumes he'd never know. The exhaust piping had been riddled with more holes then Swiss cheese. The brother she claimed kept the car working for her needed to have his ass kicked for letting his kid sister run around in a car he half ass fixed for her. Vince had to admit he was perplexed as to why he even cared if her brakes failed or she gassed herself. Her being willing to let some backyard mechanic who only thought he knew which end of a ratchet was the business end fix her car was hardly his problem.

Cory and the other guy who worked for him, Bill, had taken his car down to the Cobalt earlier so he could drive Gem's there and leave it for her. He got out of the hot shower and contemplated shaving. _Fuck it, _he thought. Sounded too much like work. What'd he care if he looked like a scruff? He wasn't going out on a social call. He was giving the girl her car back and drinking until he didn't remember her name. Same as last night and the night before and the night before that.

He headed back down the stairs after dressing in a pair of indigo blue jeans (had his belt always had to be done up that many notches?) and a couple of dark tank tops. When he saw Mia sitting in the chair that faced the foot of the stairs watching him descend he fought a roar that bubbled up. _Here we go again_.

"Why did I find half your supper in the trash?" She started.

"'Cause I wasn't hungry." He growled back. _Same old, same old_.

"V, you use to live to eat. Now you don't even eat to live. You've lost so much weight I hardly know you. You leave for the garage earlier every day and come home later every night. I never see you anymore. It's like you time things so that you never have to see anyone but those two guys you hired to work in the shop."

"You're one to talk about losing weight."

"We're not talking about me. We're talking about you. You make up for the food you don't eat by trying to keep the Corona company in business all by yourself."

"Lay off Mia." Vince snatched up his keys, ready to hit the road and drive away the stress Mia was tossing his way. Then he remembered he didn't have the Maxima to drive, but Gem's tired little Honda. _Jesus Christ! I can't win_.

"Vince, I'm worried about you." She stood up and crossed the room to his side.

She _had_ lost weight, he noticed. Even more than he'd thought. Her hair wasn't as shiny as he remembered and he could see all the bones in the backs of her hands clearly. He had been avoiding her, but he couldn't tell her that. Couldn't tell her it was because she was a constant reminder of all he'd lost and the life he'd left behind for the daily grind of running her brother's garage even though he really didn't want to. Had never wanted to be the boss, had always been content to be crazy ol' Coyote who showed up when he wanted, did the best work out of everyone, if he wanted, and left when he wanted. "I can take care of myself."

"If by take care of yourself you mean kill yourself slowly. Yes, you sure can."

"Worry about taking care of you Mia, and I'll worry about taking care of me." With that he tore the front door open, stepped through it and slammed it shut. He stood on the porch a moment trying to calm down. _God damn Mia!_ What he did to himself was none of her concern. Just because he'd been her protector for most of his life didn't mean he'd be around to do it forever. _It isn't supposed to be my god damn job!_ He roared in his head. And Mia could just go to hell for making him feel bad for making her worry too. A sound reached him through the open front window. Mia was crying again. _Ah fuck!_

He might live mostly in a fog of cool indifference but one thing he sure could still feel was guilt. And Mia's sobbing slammed him right in the gut with a big wallop of it. Same as it did when she cried at night and he didn't know her well enough to go to her anymore. So he might not fancy himself in love with her anymore he did still love her very much. She was all he had left to tie him to his old life and that was both a blessing and a curse. And a terrible, important burden he didn't feel ready to carry. And that was why he avoided her so much. But what he'd never really thought of until just now was how much that left her all alone. She worked the café alone all day long and she'd dropped out of school, so she spent her days working alone and sitting home alone. He almost went back into the house. But what would he say?

Yep, time to head to the Cobalt. He started the little civic with a snarl. He wanted his car. He wanted reckless speed to help him forget. Thinking of reckless speed made him think of what was stored in the dirty garage behind the dingy white house that had once given off a cared for air and now only looked as tired as he felt. He knew he could take either of the cars hidden there and drive as fast as he dared. But he didn't dare take either. It would be too strong of a reminder of what he'd lost. So instead he forced himself to drive carefully to the bar and park the Honda. He locked it and walked in the bar, the cool air and dark atmosphere calming him a few levels as soon as he walked through the door.

There were a few people around but no sign of the bartender, Gem, or the other lady who normally worked Friday nights alone. He crossed to his usual table in the corner and sat down, waiting for a sign of life in the bar.

"Hey honey, usual?"

He looked up in surprise to find the older lady who always waited on him at his side. He wondered where the owner of the keys he was still holding was as Barbara walked off to retrieve his drink.

Gem came back off her break with a sigh. She'd spent her forty five minutes jotting down lyric ideas on napkins. She told herself the harder she worked and the busier it was the faster time would go by as she bemoaned the need to stay at the Cobalt instead of rushing home right now. She grabbed a few tables at the back of the room and started to make her way forward. She lost herself in the routine work and daydreaming of what she would write when she got home. By the time she reached the middle of the room she'd totally forgotten about her grumpy customer who still had custody of her car.

She looked up from the table she was helping in the middle of the bar and saw him hunched over the same table he'd occupied last night, already with three empty bottles. She sighed as she told Barry what she needed for the middle tables. No help for it, she was going to have to go and retrieve her keys and she'd bet dollars to donuts that if she didn't have to remind him who she was she'd still get bad attitude from him. She delivered her orders slower than necessary to avoid heading his way. When her tray was empty she couldn't stall any longer.

She needed her car keys and he was almost to the bottom of his bottle. She started his way.

"I wouldn't sweetheart." Barbara stepped in her path. "That one takes some getting use to." She pulled a face.

"Oh I know, but I'm half way there. I had to wait on him all last night."

"He's fit to be tied tonight sweetie and that's never pretty. I'll do the nasty duty tonight. You shouldn't have to put up with that on your first full night."

"I have to go over there once because he has my car keys." Gem felt her cheeks turn a bit red when she admitted she knew the man everyone loved to hate outside the bar.

"How'd that happen?" Barbara looked intrigued.

"He's a mechanic and it broke down last night. He offered to fix it for me and bring it here with him tonight."

"Well then, sounds like someone has a soft spot for our resident singing sensation." Barbara grinned.

"No, sounds like someone was drunk and made an offer he forgot about when he sobered up but since he owns a garage he fixed my car anyway."

"Ok, either way go get your keys. You may as well show up with another one for him. Guaranteed he wants one."

Gem retrieved the drink and set it down in front of 'C'. She was going to find out what that nickname was. She decided to keep up her chipper façade with him. "Hey stranger. Long time no see." She forced a grin and hoped it looked natural.

"Yeah." He held out her keys without looking up. "All ready to go."

"Thanks again."

"Um." He grunted and held out money for the drink.

"I got that one. Consider it fair trade for the favour."

"I told you I didn't mind doing it. You don't need to do anything for me." Vince growled as he looked up. He didn't want her doing anything in return so when he felt bad for treating her poorly he could remind himself about that time he fixed her car for next to nothing.

"I know I don't but I just did." Gem winked. "See you around." She walked away whistling just to keep up her oh so happy act, a little extra swing to her walk. She didn't know what about baiting him made her so happy but something did. She waited more tables, still smiling. She really was in a great mood, even if she had gotten the grumpy treatment.

Vince drained his drink and looked up to find the old waitress and not Gem at his side. "You want anything sugar?"

She always used names like sugar or sweetie for everyone she waited on. It was irritating but she wasn't singling him out for it so he let it go, with difficulty. "Where's Gem?"

"Around." Barbara looked taken aback. "You sure she's not a bit too much sunshine for you to handle?"

How could he explain that it was her sunshine he was looking forward to, even though he knew he was going to grouch and grumble at her anyway. He simply shrugged.

"Suit yourself." Barbara headed off to find Gem. "Your guy needs another drink."

"My guy? I'm single so whoever told you they were my guy lied." Gem looked confused.

"Your mechanic. He needs another beer."

"I didn't know he was _my_ mechanic now. I'm the only one who can wait on his cranky butt?" Gem smiled.

"I guess so."

She grabbed a beer from the cooler and headed over to the dark corner again. "There you go!" She chirped, as happy as she could make herself be. "You enjoying the music?"

"It's ok." He mumbled out, almost a snarl.

"Barry tells me he has dance music in here tomorrow. Do you come out for that too?"

"What'd you think?"

"I think you come sit in the corner in the dark and drink beer." Gem said, standing beside the table with a smile.

"You're like some kind of genius." He quipped back sarcastically.

"You know why I think you come on Saturdays?" Gem didn't let his sarcasm dissuade her from continuing on in a friendly, familiar tone.

He didn't answer, just looked up at her again with a surly face. He waited for her to fill him in.

"I think you come here on Saturdays to watch the pretty little things shake it on the dance floor." She grinned even bigger as she cocked her hip to one side and wrinkled her nose in barely contained laughter. She didn't know where the boldness was coming from but she was liking it. She was actually hoping that he came up with something really mean when he came back at her.

"I come here to not be home."

Where the hell had that come from? Vince couldn't believe he'd said that out loud. He'd had a witty retort about being glad it wouldn't be her out there shaking her ass all ready to go and then bam, out with the truth just like that. Now she was going to go all what's the matter on him and he was going to have to get really mad at her.

"I see." She answered. "Well hey, the pretty young things can't be anything but a bonus I guess, right?" She patted his shoulder awkwardly but kept her grin on her face. It was almost like she had a sixth sense for things because she didn't try to talk more or stick around to keep him company.

Just a simple pat on the shoulder with the same sunny grin before she walked off to go about her business. Either she lacked a woman's need to stick her nose where it didn't belong or she had one very developed sense of when to leave things alone. Either way he was grateful and by the end of the night he wouldn't remember anyway. On that note he started pulling back his drink.

When two am came Gem had nothing on her mind but going home. Her feet were killing her. She hadn't had to work such a long, constantly busy shift in a very long time. She started to take off her apron in anticipation of going home as Barbara went to lock the doors.

"We got a problem." Barry said as he walked toward the ladies from the staff washroom.

"What is it chief?" Barbara asked.

"The man we all love to hate."

"Hey, he's not so bad." Gem felt the need to stand up for her new friend, odd as their relationship was.

"Then you wake his ass up and get him outta my club." Barry groaned as he finished.

"What do you mean wake him up?" Gem asked, already starting toward the dark corner of the bar Vince preferred.

"You see what I mean!" Barry almost roared as he followed Gem around the corner of the bar.

There was Vince, passed out with his head on his crossed arms. There was a great number of empty bottles on the table around him, some tipped over and some upright. "Who brought him all those beer?" Gem asked, her incredulousness making her voice breathy.

"We all brought him some and while we weren't looking he went and got his own at the bar. Look at all those bottles." Barbara sighed.

"I'll do what I can. We don't really know each other, you guys know that right?"

"You know his name." Barbara reminded. "You're the only one who does."

"You're the only one he didn't make cry on their first night with him Gem. If anyone can get him outta here it's you." Barry patted her on the shoulder as he walked away.

"Good luck." Barbara turned to go as well. "Do you want me to stay with you? Will you be ok?"

"I think so, I should be fine." Gem sounded sure, but she really wasn't sure at all. What if he turned violent? She pulled a chair up beside him, but not too close. "Vince?" She called softly. He didn't acknowledge her at all. "Hey Vince? It's time to wake up and go home." He still didn't come too.

"Vince, wake up." She gently shook his shoulder this time. He groaned and shifted, swatting at her almost playfully, as though she was someone he was use to roughhousing with.

"Leon, go away. We'll work on your car later." He turned his head away from her.

"Aw Vince I'm not Leon, kid." She was feeling something for this man, and she didn't know what. He reminded her a bit of her little brother when he was drunk. Her brother got the same way when he over indulged. "You have got to get up and go home big guy." She shook him again.

"Wha?" He lifted his head up off the table with a moan. "Where am I?"

"Cobalt. It's time to go home now. Come on." Gem stood up and offered her hand. "Let's go."

"Yeah." Vince stood up and almost fell over, scorning her offered hand.

"Easy goes it." Gem held out her hand to steady him, still smiling. He swatted her hand away.

"I'm fine."

"You sure are," Gem winked. "But Barry wants to close up. Let's go."

"Where we goin?" Vince asked as he stumbled after Gem toward the exit, the double entendre in her comment going right over his head.

"Well, you are going to tell me where you live and I am going to drive you there so you can go to bed. And boy, are you going to regret this tomorrow."

"Regret what?"

"Nothing. Let's go. Come on." Gem kept Vince moving toward the door. She got him out of the bar and heard the door lock behind them. She looked back and saw Barry waving good night. She started to lead Vince around the corner of the store toward the parking lot. "Ok, get in." Gem stopped beside her car.

"I got my," he hiccupped and looked around the parking lot, "car. It's right over there." He pointed in the general direction of a blue car, the only one left besides Gem's own Honda and Barry's GMC Jimmy. Barry drove Barbara home at the end of each of her shifts.

"That's a very nice car Vince, it really is, but you are in no shape to drive it right now. I think you should get in my car here and let me drive you home." Gem patted the hood of her Honda. "Or I could get you a taxi."

"Can't leave the Maxima here all night." Vince started unsteadily toward his car, hauling his keys out as he went.

"Ah, ah, ah." Gem tutted as she dashed after him. She snatched his keys out of his hand. As if to exhibit just how retarded his reflexes were by how much he'd had to drink it took him a few seconds to realize he wasn't holding his keys anymore. For those few seconds he kept walking toward the car with his hand out as though it still had the keys. When he realized they were gone he turned back to face her with a very irate look on his face. "Sorry but no matter how well you drive you are in no shape to be doing it now. Let me drive you home."

"Give me my keys."

"Nope sorry. I'll make you walk before I give you back these keys, but if you're really nice to me I'll give you a lift." Gem started walking backwards. He lurched toward her unsteadily and almost fell. "You can't walk right now, let alone drive a car as fast as yours." Gem didn't know how she thought she knew his car would be fast, but when an almost paternal smile lit up his face she figured it was the right thing to say. _Just keep complimenting the car. _"Just let me drive you home and then someone can take you down here in the morning to get your car back. Wouldn't you rather risk letting it sit here overnight than risk writing it off on the way home?"

"Gimme my keys." Another drunken lurch complete with a stumble accompanied the request.

"Nope." Gem was scared to move away any faster in case he really did fall down trying to keep up with her. "This is absurd. If you do get your keys away from me and go start your car I'm gonna have to call the police on you and I really don't want to do that."

"So just gimme my keys and don't."

"Can't do that. Think how bad I'd feel if you killed yourself on the way home."

"You don't have to feel bad for me if I kill myself." Another hiccup.

"Ok, what if you kill a family on the way home, and don't kill yourself. Then I'd have to hate you for doing something as stupid as driving this drunk, and doing it on purpose none the less and killing innocent people and not yourself. What then?"

"You sound like Mia."

The way it was said it was not meant to be a compliment. It was also clear from his attitude he was starting to soften in his driving home position. "Really? I think I'd like Mia then. She sounds smart."

"Um." A grunt was all she got. Thankfully in his state he gave her a lot of clues before he made his moves. He lunged at her again and grabbed at the keys. He almost got them. Only Gem's faster reflexes kept her out of his reach as she stepped neatly backward. He almost fell again.

"That's it." Gem pulled her shirt away from her body and dropped the keys down her tank top. "That takes care of that."

"You think I won't go down there after them?" A sly grin crossed his face, taking years off the age he looked and making him almost charming and boyish. Gem reminded herself to watch this one. He could be dangerous with that smile.

"If you do you better bring your A game." Gem said and brought her hands up into a boxer's pose. She had no idea if she could take him, even in his state, and a boxer she wasn't.

A thoughtful look crossed his face. "You drive stick?"

"I don't know. Is this a question of my driving skills or something more rude?"

He got sarcastically angry. "Of your driving skills."

"Then yes, I do know how to drive a stick shift, although I never knew how very well and it's been awhile."

"Ok, then you take my car and drive me home. I'll get it back off you tomorrow."

"If I do that, how will I get my car back?"

"I'll drive you to your car when you come to give me mine back."

"It means that much to you that your car not sit here all night?"

"Yeah. Really, who's gonna steal yours? Mine on the other hand…" He stopped slowly chasing her backwards and stood looking at her. "Come on. A lot of people would jump at the chance to drive my car. It's not an offer I've made to that many people. I bet you like it better than that Honda."

"Alright already. I'll drive you home in your own car. You're the most stubborn person I've ever met." She growled as best as she could. It actually made him laugh.

"Gee, I've never heard that before."

"I just bet you haven't." They started toward the azure car together. When they reached the side of the car she put the key into the lock and turned. She opened the door and slid in. It took her a few moments to find the unlock button inside the unfamiliar car. When she managed Vince got in the other side. "Ok, how do I move the seat up?" It was some kind of different bucket seat. It barely fit her hips, though she bet it fit Vince's narrower ones like a glove.

"Lever on the front." It was going to take him an hour to get the car set back up the way he liked it, he thought irritably. He watched as she got the seat adjusted to her satisfaction and then reached up and fixed the mirror.

"This car is legal for the road right?"

"Mostly."

"What does mostly mean?"

"It means it's mostly legal." He growled, a slight slur to the words. "Nothing the cops are gonna find on the side of the road at two thirty in the morning ok?"

"Ok, just asking. Do you always take everything so darn personal?"

"Do you always ask so many stupid questions and use words like darn?"

"I try to avoid swearing." Gem answered primly, unwilling to admit that while she was not terribly religious she'd been raised a strict catholic and one did not use foul language in front of her mother or father without the soap bottle being brought out. "And I really can't afford a ticket right now."

"It's my car. You're doing your fuckin girl scout duty not lettin' me drive and I think most pigs'll go easy on you. Let's go."

"Yes sir!" She started the car after remembering to push the clutch pedal all the way in. She got it in reverse with some doing and backed it out of the parking spot fairly easily. Then she engaged first and started forward. The car stalled. "Oops."

"Jesus Christ! I thought you said you could drive a damn stick shift."

"I said it had been awhile." She started the car back up and got moving. Her shifts were a bit lurching but she managed not to stall again. "There aren't any big hills I'm going to have to stop on to get you home are there?"

"No, thank god. No one should drive if they can't drive stick. Automatics are for lazy people who don't really want to know how to drive."

"No one asked you." Gem said, starting to wish she'd simply let him drive his own car home. "Are you always this cranky?"

"Mostly, yeah."

"Ok, well just tell me how to get to your house. I'm pretty good with directions."

He told her where to go and they both fell silent, the radio tuned to a soft rock channel on satellite feed, the volume turned way down. The trip to Vince's house took them down a mostly deserted stretch of state highway. It was dark in the car, the only light offered by the moon and the soft blue light of the indiglo gauges in the car. It lulled Gem into a content state, like there was no where she'd rather be then flying through the night with nothing but the stars to see.

Gem happened to look over into the passenger seat and found her reluctant charge passed out cold. "So that's why he shut up." She murmured, unwilling to wake him. She found herself grinning again for no apparent reason. She mused it might just be thinking of the look on his face when he'd threatened to go after his keys. She was glad she'd gotten the complete directions from him before he'd passed out. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do if he lived alone. She wasn't sure if she could get him up and into his house alone again.

She sang softly along with the radio and drove, enjoying the experience of driving a car that moved when she pressed the go pedal, even if she did have to worry about when to go into second and third. It wasn't so bad, not in a car as nice as Vince's.

Eventually she pulled up to a white house in a middle class neighbourhood. All the windows were dark. She parked the car and pulled the keys out of the ignition, looking at them to try and figure which might open his front door. It was a lost cause. She'd be willing to bet he had keys to about five cars on his keychain, not to mention a bunch that opened locks for buildings. As to which one opened the white house she had no idea. "Vince? Wake up."

He didn't listen. No help for it, she was going to have to go knock on the door and hope someone else was home. There was a baby blue car in the driveway so hopefully its owner would be able to get him up. With a sigh she got out of the car and walked up to the front door of the house. She knocked loudly. No one came so she knocked again and backed up down the step to get a view of the upstairs windows. There was a light on in one of them. The door was thrown open by a slight woman with long, wild dark hair. Her dark eyes were wild with panic. It disappeared when she took in Gem on her step.

"Oh my god I thought it was going to be a police officer!" She held her hand to her exposed throat.

"Hi there. Sorry to wake you but I think I have something that belongs to you in the car." Gem moved so the woman could see the blue car parked at the curb.

"Thank god he didn't drive." The woman gave Gem a strange look, like she was just now realizing there was a stranger at her door at almost three am. A stranger who had apparently driven Vince's car, and with his permission none the less, since she was still in one piece.

"Where are my manners? I'm so sorry. I'm Gem and I work at the club where your boyfriend was tonight. He fixed my car for me today so sort of knew him better than the other people who work there so I was elected to get him up and out when he passed out in the bar. Then he was going to drive himself home and we couldn't have that so I stopped him, but he insisted that his car make it home tonight. But now I can't get him up." Gem rushed to explain how she came to be in possession of the dark woman's man even as she fought a wave of jealousy. No one who came home to a girl as exquisitely pretty and feminine as this one would ever give _her_ a second glance.

"Thank you so much for not letting him drive. He's horrible. So he let you drive his car?"

"Yes, not that I really wanted to and not that he really wanted to let me. I'm not very good with a manual."

"Well, let's get him in the house. I'm Mia by the way." Mia introduced herself as she kicked her feet into a pair of her flip flops and walked with Gem down toward the car.

Gem started to laugh. She couldn't help it. This was Mia.

"What's funny?" Mia asked, clearly not sure what to think.

"I sound like you when I lecture. When I said I couldn't let him drive in case he killed a family but lived himself because life isn't fair and then I'd have to hate him for being so stupid he said I sounded like Mia. I just assumed you were his sister."

Mia giggled, despite herself. "Well I am, in a way. Vince and my brother were best friends as kids. I'm not dating Vince."

"Oh." Gem noted the use of 'were' in the sentence. Either they no longer were friends or Mia's blood brother was dead. Either way it felt like a sore subject so she didn't pursue it. "Well, sorry for assuming. I don't want to seem like I'm prying. After all, I hardly know either of you. I only drove him home because I didn't want to turn him in to the cops. He seems like he has enough issues without getting picked up for DUI."

"That's the truth."

The two women reached the side of the car and Mia pulled the door open. "Ok V, get up."

"Wha?" His eyes blinked open, but not very far.

"You're home, let's get you to bed."

Mia took his hand and tried to help him up. She didn't have the strength to do it. Not anymore. She remembered when she'd been able to push him around at will. She really hadn't been taking care of herself. "I can't move him."

"Let me try." Gem said and traded places with Mia. She grabbed Vince's hand and pulled. He got up at her insistence and almost fell on her. "Ok, whoa there big guy. You have got to walk up to the house. We can't roll you." Gem giggled and Mia joined in.

"You're not funny." Vince growled.

"I find myself very funny." Gem smiled, still finding picking on him very amusing. Vince started to make his own way up the walk to the house. Mia and Gem followed him. It took the two of them to get him upstairs. He passed out onto his bed on his back.

"Just let him sleep there like that." Mia said, a look of disgust on her face once the novelty of Vince being driven home by the waitress from the bar he got drunk in wore off.

"We can't."

"Why not?" Mia retorted.

"Because if he throws up in his sleep he could choke to death. We need to put him on his side with his arm and his knee like, folded. You know, from first aid?"

"The recovery position. I was premed at one point. And you're right. No matter how mad at him I am right now I don't want him dead."

They got Vince onto his side with his knee crooked so he couldn't roll over. "We should get him a bucket if he's prone to getting sick when he has a lot to drink." Gem suggested gently.

"How much is a lot?"

"I think I counted about 17 beer bottles but I could be wrong."

"I'll get the bucket." Mia sighed and left the room. Gem started pulling off Vince's boots, figuring he could sleep in the rest of his clothes just fine.

"You're goin' to be sick tomorrow kid, no help for it."

"I bet he's about six years older than you. It's kind of funny to hear you call him kid." Mia had come back in the room while Gem was occupied with Vince's boots.

"Really? He's as old as twenty eight? He doesn't look it."

"You're twenty two?" Mia asked incredulously.

"Yes, how old did you think I was?" Gem asked, knowing with her hair pulled back she likely looked younger than she was.

"Nineteen."

"Thanks, I think. So he's twenty five then?"

"Yep. So, we content he's not going to die?" Mia asked with a smile.

"I don't think he'll die of natural causes through the night. I wouldn't put money on you not killing him tomorrow."

"Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind. Come on, I'll drive you to your car. That way you won't have to contend with a very hung over Vince early in the morning. I promise you if he knows someone else has his car he'll be up early looking for it."

"I wouldn't want to put you out. The Cobalt is like half an hour away."

"That's fine. Now that I'm up I'll be up most of the night. I worry about him."

There was a lot to that statement left unsaid, Gem figured as she watched the shadows in Mia's eyes. "I'm sorry I had to wake you. I had no idea what to do with him or what key opened the door."

"It's fine. I'm so happy you didn't let him drive I consider taking you to your car too little to do to repay you."

"You don't owe me a thing. I have brothers so I know how they can be."

Mia gave Gem a tired smile and led the way down the stairs. Mia drove Gem back to her car, the two women making small talk and finding out they had some common interests. They pulled into the parking lot. "Thanks again for getting Vince home safe. I know he's not much but he's all I got left."

"No sweat. He's got his issues, that's not hard to see, but he's not so bad. He fixed my car for next to nothing because I don't have a lot of money."

"He has his moments." Mia smiled. "I hope if I see you again it's under better circumstances."

"Me too! Night." Gem said as she shut the door. Mia waited until the lights of the little grey car came on and then she left. Gem followed suit and turned the opposite way toward her own home. No nice middle class neighbourhood for her. Back to the wonderful world of the boarding house in a fairly bad part of town.

If her father ever found out where she lived he'd kill her dead. When she got home this time she took her shower, enjoying the fact that most of the other boarders had been in bed for some time and that left the hot water plentiful. She took her time in the shower, heading up to her room only after she was a wrinkled prune.

After getting her nightgown on she sat at her little table and looked over her work. She turned her stereo on softly, playing easy listening, using it for mere background noise as she looked over what she'd already written.

When next she looked up the dawn was starting to break and she had a rough draft of her first ever completed song down on paper.

She dragged herself to her bed and fell in, falling into a deep and contented sleep.

The rest of the weekend flew by. By the time Gem came up for air it was Wednesday night and she was starting to get nervous about Thursday. Barry and Barbara were both pressuring her to participate in open mic night again. She just wasn't sure she was ready.

She also wanted to sing her own song but she didn't know if she could pull it off without the proper accompaniment. She had no one to play the keyboard parts, or drums. Not to mention she'd have to forgo her bass and play the lead guitar. She'd written the guitar tabs for an electric guitar which was something she didn't have and didn't know how to play anyway.

She'd been polishing the song all week and she was finally happy with it but no one was ever going to hear it because she would never be able to pull it off with nothing but her own acoustic stylings.

She'd never really expected to see Vince again, but he'd been back the night after she'd driven him home. She'd done what she thought he'd want and pretended nothing had ever happened. She figured he'd be embarrassed about how everyone had seen him. He didn't really let on if he was, but she'd caught something in his eyes the first time she'd seen him on Saturday night and she knew on some level he was ashamed of himself. There was a part of her she didn't want to look too hard at that had been worried she'd never see him again and that part was overjoyed to be wrong. She wasn't willing to do anything that might drive him away, logical or not.

It had been hard for him to go back to the Cobalt on Saturday night but he'd forced himself to. He wasn't willing to go looking for another place to go. It had taken him awhile to find the Cobalt and he didn't want to go through all the trouble of doing it all over again.

He'd caught the looks from the old broad and the bartender when he walked in again. He had made it a point not to drink to the point of losing his control again. When Gem had first set a beer on the table in front of him he'd expected a repeat of the bitch session Mia had subjected him to the morning after. Instead all he got was a sunny smile and a hello as she walked away.

He wasn't sure if he wanted her to make a scene or if he was happy she was so willing to let it go.

"I don't know Barry." He heard Gem talking to the bartender later that night, standing at the bar almost right behind him. That meant they were at the far end of the bar.

"You have to do this Gem. I can see it every time you talk about it that it's something you want to do."

"I do. I really do. But I'm no good and my guitar is junk. Even if it wasn't I wouldn't be able to play it well enough to pull off what I want to do. Besides it's acoustic and I need electric. I guess I should have known that just because I sound good in church and the shower doesn't mean I can cut it as a performer."

"You weren't so bad."

"I had people cat calling me about Jem and the Holograms."

"Some people are assholes." Barry shrugged, as though to say that was simply life.

"I don't even sound a thing like Jem. I'll have you know I loved that show when I was a kid. I always wanted to be a Misfit though. But you know what?" She didn't wait for Barry to answer, but continued on. "Even if they'd have offered me a spot on the Misfits I wouldn't have been able to take it because the Misfits break the rules and I only play by them. I'd have been Jem alright. Miss Goody two shoes herself."

"Don't be so hard on yourself sweetheart. The world needs more people like you. More good girls."

"Maybe, and maybe not, but if I was a Misfit I wouldn't be here moaning about playing my song, I'd just get up and do it."

"So just get up and do it."

"You make it sound so easy."

Gem walked away at that point and the conversation was over. Tomorrow was open mic. Vince hated the resigned note in Gem's voice when she talked about not being good enough to get up on stage and sing, and about being too good for her own good. She might have saved his life, the life of a lot of innocent people, and not to mention Mia's by being a good girl and making him do the right thing on Friday night and there was something to be said for that. As poor a substitute he was for her real brother, what would Mia do with no one at all?

That didn't mean he was going to say he was sorry. But he had an idea.

On Thursday night Barry sent Gem off to the green room to prepare for her performance at eight. He wasn't taking no for an answer but that was ok because Gem had a very ambitious plan. She was going to try and get Tamica to play the keyboard for her. She'd brought along all the sheet music just in case the other girl agreed. And fate participated because Tamica showed up early. She also agreed to play the song happily; content to be given a piece to play that was both challenging and freed her from doing her own singing.

"You know Elliott can actually play the drums right?" Tamica asked as she looked over the music Gem had given her in the green room.

"He can?" There's something he can actually play?"

"Yeah." Tamica grinned. "'Bout blows the mind doesn't it?"

"He good enough to play from sheet music?"

"Yep. And he'll love the chance to go out there and just play something he's good at too."

"Now if I could just play guitar I'd be set." Gem grinned despite her statement.

"You'll be ok."

"Because you're going to play this." Both girls looked up at the open door to find Vince standing in it. "This a bad time?"

"Not at all." Gem stood up, her manners perfect no matter the circumstance. It was how she'd been raised and nothing had ever made her forget it. She tried to never be rude or raise her voice. It wasn't lady like and being lady like was something she'd been taught from an early age. So even though they'd hardly spoken in a week and had hardly known each other before that Gem was still going to behave as though they were long lost friends. "Tamica this is Vince. Vince, Tamica."

"Hi." He barely spared Tamica a glance. "I want you to use this for your song." Vince handed over a case.

"What is it?" Gem took the black bundle on instinct.

"Open it."

She sat and did as instructed, only to find a beautiful cream and black electric guitar. The fact the guitar was not a child's toy or from a second hand store was apparent, the guitar was also obviously well loved. "I can't use this." She looked up at Vince with wonder in her eyes. "I'll break it."

"It's just a guitar, you won't break it."

"This is far from just a guitar and even if I didn't think something would happen to it I can't play it. I don't know how. Where'd you get it?"

"It's mine. I use to play."

"Well I can't take it."

"I'm telling you, you can borrow the damn guitar."

"Thank you very much but I can't. I wouldn't know the first thing about how to play it even if I was willing to borrow it."

"What can you play?" Vince asked in irritation. What kind of musician was she?

"I can play this." Gem set the bulls eye patterned instrument back in its case and pulled a second case out from under the couch. She flipped the latches, lifted the lid and removed a Zon Sonus electric four string bass finished in Caribbean blue out of the case. Love for the instrument made her countenance almost glow.

It was a pro's instrument and the way she ran her hands over it made Vince think of things which had nothing to do with guitars. She looked up at him. "I know it's silly that I can play this and not a regular guitar but give me anything but my bass and I don't know what to do with it. I've tried to learn the electric guitar but I never manage to play anything resembling a tune."

"But you need an electric guitar. I heard you telling the bartender last night."

"I do, but I also need an electric guitar player. You up for it?" Hope lit her eyes. He could play. It worried her that he might figure out he was the inspiration for her song, but surely he wouldn't think so when they'd only been acquainted a week and had spent most of it dancing around talking about anything to do with personal topics.

"I don't play anymore." His eyes were shuttered when he said it, discouraging any questions about why he didn't play anymore but still owned such an expensive instrument.

"I don't play at all so you're one up on me. Come on! It'll be fun." She cajoled happily. _It'll keep you mostly sober an extra hour so poor Mia doesn't go out of her mind worrying about you._

"I don't know." On one hand he really didn't want to. On the other he had loved to play his guitar. Really play it, not show off for some chick he thought would be easier to pick up if she thought he was a cool rocker dude.

"Have a seat and look at the tabs. See what you think." She handed over the sheets of paper.

Vince skimmed it quickly and then looked up at her. "You wrote this?"

"Yes, why? Is it horrible? I wondered if it might be. I can't play the guitar but I hear it in my head the way I want it, you know? I'm just never sure if I'm writing it down right."

"No, it's good. Did you go to school for this shit?"

"Just high school band and a few piano lessons."

"You really want me to play this for you tonight?" He asked on a sigh. He owed her. He didn't like it, wouldn't admit it and he really didn't want to get up on stage. But he owed her and this was important to her. She'd ignored his jackass routine night after night, and ignored it with a happy smile.

"Well, first I'd like to make sure you really know how to play, and read sheet music." She smirked playfully, teasing him. He made a face of mock concentration and played a horribly out of tune chord. Though it was a joke his guitar was showing the lack of attention it had suffered over the last year. He started to fiddle with the tuning pegs, a look of intense concentration on his face.

"Don't worry; it'll all come back before I get on stage." He picked up her music and looked over it again. "Do I get to read the song before we go out there?"

"Yes! You're going to do it! We have a real honest to God band Tamica. Can you believe it?" Gem's happiness bubbled over in her huge grin and laughing eyes. She also had managed to neatly side step his question.

"I just hope we all get everything on time since we're doing this without a practice run. And where is Elliott?"

"I'm right here. Why?" Elliott walked in the room. "New guy?"

"Yeah, new guy." Tamica answered before Vince could. "You are playing the drum set for Gem tonight. We're her new band." Tamica handed over the drum music.

"Gem wrote this?" Elliott scanned the sheets of lined paper.

"Yes, now the question of the hour is can you play it?"

"Sure. If I don't have to sing no sweat. Do you know what a relief it's going to be to go out there knowing no one is going to boo me? I can play drums."

Gem smiled at Elliott's exuberance and crossed the room. She knelt in front of Vince where he was mock strumming the guitar sitting in an armchair, looking deep in concentration, her sheet music propped up where he could read it. "You sure you're ok with this? I know I almost forced you to with my begging and whining and it's a complicated piece to just be tossed."

Vince looked up into her eyes and simply launched into her song. He never looked at the paper again. He played the whole first verse before trailing off. "I use to be good."

Gem tossed her head back and laughed out loud. It was like Jesus himself had sent her a guitar player. She couldn't explain how much she wanted to just squeeze Vince until he popped she was so grateful for the fact he could play the guitar so well. When she stopped laughing she looked at Tamica and Elliott over her shoulder, a huge grin on her lips. They were looking at her like doubts about her sanity had risen. "He _used_ to be good. He just memorized one of the most complicated things I've ever written and it only took him ten minutes but he used to be good."

"And none of us get to hear the words until we're out there huh?"

Gem held the paper with her vocals closer to her chest. "No way. It's going to be hard enough to sing them. I don't think I could if anyone knew what was coming first. It's like letting people into your private world to share your own writing with them." She picked up her guitar. "And I get to play _my_ guitar. I've missed it so much!"

"Someone should tell Nalia we're all going on together with Gem tonight." Elliott spoke up.

"Yeah, well I'll still go on alone after." Tamica answered.

"No me. This is like a perfect solution for me." Elliott grinned. "I'll go tell her. I'll be right back." He dashed off. When he came back he looked slightly less exuberant. "We're on first."

"In that case we should all trade music so we know where we all come in." Tamica handed the piano score to Vince and took the guitar music from him. She handed it to Elliott and took the drum music.

"I'll have the vocals next." Vince looked up at Gem.

"I'll give you this music when you tell me what 'C' is short for."

Vince looked at Gem in shock. "That's dirty."

"That's fair trade."

"I guess I get to hear the song when you sing it then. Hope I come in at the right time."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, judging by what you already did."

"No kidding. I'm going to need this music on the keyboard or I'll be screwed." Tamica joined in from her place on the couch.

"Me too." Elliott said. "Where'd you learn to play like that?"

"Around." Vince answered and looked at Elliott in a way that suggested the younger man stop the line of questioning. It worked as Elliott's mouth snapped shut.

"Ok." Tamica drawled. Gem had sure gotten herself into an interesting situation. No one had need bother to think she didn't recognize Gem's new guitar player. She knew who he was. He had an almost legendary reputation at the Cobalt and Tamica had no idea how someone as sweet as Gem had ended up not only knowing his name but also knowing him well enough to be offered the loan of an obviously treasured possession. But Gem needed a guitar player and the boy certainly was that. Not only that, but how they knew each other was none of her business.

"Oh don't be such a grump. It's not like he asked you if stole the guitar or something. Shesh." Gem teased Vince gently.

Tamica waited for the fireworks to begin and was more then a little shocked when instead of blowing up the grump in question fought to keep a ghost of a smile off his face.

The call came over the speaker, letting them know it was time to take the stage.

"We ready?" Gem asked, wiping her sweaty hands off on her pants. She was beyond nervous this time. It was ten times worse to go out on stage knowing if everyone hated her performance this time they were essentially hating her since she'd put so much of herself into her song.

"Hell yeah." Elliott answered with such enthusiastic conviction Gem couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"If we could bottle that confidence we could get rich."

"Well, if the music is anything to go by we have nothing to worry about. Your score is great." Tamica wrapped an arm around Gem's shoulders and started to lead her out of the green room. "It's all gonna be fine." She looked back over her shoulder at Vince. "You comin?"

"Yeah." He picked up his guitar and followed the other three out of the room. They climbed onto the stage and he immediately went to the darkest corner of it and plugged his guitar into the amp provided. He watched as Gem jacked her bass into her larger amp and then walked up to the mic.

"Um, hi." She started nervously. "Tonight we are going to play a song I wrote. We've never run through it before so please forgive us any mistakes we make. We'll try not to make this too painful. Most of you know Tamica, who will be playing the keyboard for me, and Elliott, who will be playing the drum line this evening. Those of you who have been here before will be relived to know drums are his thing and he will not be singing this evening."

There was a smattering of laughter from the regulars and Elliott grinned, well aware that singing was not his strong suit.

"Also we have Vince on the lead guitar, thus sparing you from my attempts to play the instrument in question and leaving me free to play my bass, which I assure you I can play." Gem gained more confidence the longer she was up front without anyone saying anything rude. Her song was good, according to all her friends (the sum total of which was the people on stage with her plus Barry, but she didn't let that fact undermine her new found confidence,) and she knew she could sing when she sang her own stuff at home. "So with that out of the way, here goes nothing."

She glanced at Tamica and she started to play the keyboard, the song opening on a set of simple piano notes. After Tamica played the same notes several times Gem started to sing.

"_Under the weight of your wings, you are a god and whatever I want you to be. And I wonder if truly you are nearly as beautiful as I believe."_

When she sang 'beautiful' Vince came in with the guitar line, a simple chord to begin, merging perfectly with the keyboard's voice and perfectly on time. Hiding in the shadows at the back of the stage he played with a skill Gem would be forever thankful for. There was a span of time where it was only guitar and keyboard carrying the song before Elliott joined them with a simple drum line. Gem broke into the chorus of her song.

"_In my head, your voice. You've got all that I need, and this make believe will get me through another lonely night."_

She was mesmerizing when she was singing a song she was passionate about, Vince thought as he watched her sing and play her bass from his position all but hiding at the back of the small stage area. He'd agreed to do this as a favour, not to become famous for his guitar playing skills.

But he couldn't stop a small smile from forming when he thought about how good it was to just play his guitar again. To play a real song.

Why had Gem been playing something as inane as the song she'd sung last week with songs like this one kicking around in her repertoire? Just because she hadn't known she'd been able to get a band together to accompany her, or was there more to it?

_Under the weight of your wings, should ever we meet on your side of the stereo, I will pretend I know not of your thoughts and even the way that they mirror my own. I'll take you away in the way that you take me and go where I go."_

Though not his style of music the song was beautiful; relevant and heartfelt. It was like she knew when he was around her he thought about things that didn't occur to him other times, like how nice it would be to just be normal again. She did take him away with her to another place when he was around her. Her smile was so happy and given without reservation, and the way she purposely got happier the surlier he got made him want to smile. That was something no one else could claim in a very long time.

The way she'd managed to blend all the instruments together to compliment her voice perfectly was amazing. When he'd played in a band before, back in high school, they'd played a totally different kind of music. The point hadn't been to compliment the singer, it had been to try and make people bang their heads. Gem's music was a totally different style then anything he'd ever been involved in before.

She sung the chorus again and again he was struck by the purity of her voice, the power behind it. She held her pitch almost perfectly, something most of today's popular singers couldn't do live on a small stage to save their lives. Most popular entertainers were creations of the sound studio, but not Gem. She managed to hit all her high notes without going sharp and her low tones were smoky and evocative. The way they were functioning as a cohesive unit despite never having played together before was downright amazing.

Tamica was one hell of a piano player and it was amazing to think the kid who'd assaulted his eardrums every Thursday for as long as he'd been going to the Cobalt was playing the drum line totally on time.

"_Fall away to the sound of my heart to your beat. Melancholy and cool, kind of bittersweet. Love on repeat, I'm echoing all your philosophies. And as I fall away to the sound of my heart to your beat, melancholy and cool, kind of bittersweet. Love on repeat. _

_I'm echoing all your philosophies. And as I..."_

If he wasn't mistake she'd glanced at him out of the corner of her eye when she'd sang the last verse. What was that about?

Gem glanced at Vince as surreptitious as she could out of the corner of her eye. She wanted to know if he looked like he had figured out the song was about him. He was simply engrossed in his playing as far as she could tell. She fought a feeling of relief that left her weak in the knees. What would she do if he ever figured out her secret? It was practically mortifying to be sharing something so personal with a bar full of people as it was. She didn't know what she'd do if the object of her fantasy found out he was her inspiration.

She couldn't ask for her friends to do a better job of playing her song. They were dead on the tempo. Tamica played the piano like no one Gem had ever heard and Vince was putting just the right amount of attitude into the guitar.

"_Oh...I don't wanna be fool-hearted Baby. I'm out numbered in my head. I don't, I don't wanna be fool-hearted Baby. I'm out numbered in my head. My head..."_

She could fall hard for him, she realized as she launched into the chorus again. And that would be stupidity indeed, totally fool hearted. He was too volatile by half. With his all too elusive smile that made her feel like she'd been given a gift when he gave her one. She was getting in over her head. Nothing he'd ever said had implied he felt more for her then a vague sense of beholdenment for making sure he got home alive and for putting up with his surly disposition. She sang the chorus a second time and went into the last bit of her song, Vince and Elliot stopping just when they should, Tamica's beautiful piano notes the only accompaniment to the last sentence of song.

"…_Lonely night... Under the weight of your wings, I make believe you are all that I'll ever need. All that I need..."_

She finished on a tremulous sigh as the last piano note wavered in the air until it finally died away. The audience remained silent. _Oh man, I still sucked_, Gem thought as she looked around at the stunned faces in the crowd.

One by one the people sitting around the bar started to clap. Those who had been present for her cover song couldn't believe they'd just watched the same girl perform. She was a totally different person. The clapping grew to a thunderous applause.

Vince watched as Gem blushed from the attention and grinned a mile wide. He'd noticed the same thing as everyone else. She was a totally different person on stage when she was doing her own thing.

They all filed off the stage into the green room. He walked in last to find Tamica and Gem hugging happily.

"You were great!" Gem told Tamica happily. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone play the keyboard that well before. I couldn't have done it without you!" She turned to Elliott, "Or you!" She hugged Elliott as well and he returned the gesture happily.

"It was fun to do something I'm good at for a change."

"And you!" Tamica looked at Gem speculatively. "Where were you hiding that voice? And why on earth were you ever singing cover tunes with songs like that one up your sleeve?"

"I never wrote a song that worked like that before in my life, I swear it." Gem couldn't get the satisfied grin off her face. As a band they'd been great. She couldn't have asked for them to do better. She did wonder why Vince hadn't come back for his guitar case yet. On that note she turned around to look at the door to the room and found him standing there. "Well, don't just stand there, get in here." She called. He obeyed her request almost reluctantly. "You were great! Thank you so much."

"No sweat." Vince tossed his guitar back into the case. "I almost had fun."

She grinned at his surly remark. She was pretty sure that the constant bad mood was just a protection device. She'd allow him to keep it, for now, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to keep on ignoring it either. "Well I did have fun, but if you hadn't helped me out I wouldn't have had half as much, so thanks again." She thought about hugging him, but was unclear how well it would go over so she forwent it for a pat on the shoulder on her way by him. "I should get back to work. See you guys later, and thanks again."

Gem did go back to work and her victory on the stage kept her spirit in the clouds all night. It also helped that Vince had slowed down his drinking habit. He didn't end up with half the drinks he normally would and Gem held out hope that he was staring a new trend.

When they started to close up she had a crazy idea, but she figured it couldn't hurt to try. She walked up to Vince as he was about to go out the door. She was done for the night anyway. "Hey Vince."

He turned back to her. "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Ok," he looked wary.

"Do you think your friend would mind if I called her sometime?"

"Who? Mia?"

"Yeah, Mia. It was just that she seemed really nice and I don't really know anyone in LA yet. I was wondering if you thought she would mind if I called her sometime."

Vince thought for a second. Mia would likely love it in actual fact and she never left the house but to work anymore and it really didn't look like she had any friends to him. Not anymore. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Would you mind giving me her number then?" Gem pulled out a pen and notepad. Vince gave her the number, then they walked around the side of the building together. "See you later." Gem said as she tossed her case into her back seat and got ready to get in her car.

"What, no protest about innocent families?" Vince wanted to kick himself the minute his statement left his mouth. Why did he go and bring up what had happened before? He didn't want to think about it, let alone talk about it.

"Nope, I figure as long as you can walk without stumbling and talk without slurring you're likely ok." She smiled gently. "But still, drive safe."

"Um." He grunted a response and walked over to his car. He watched until he saw her lights come on before starting his own car. Her Honda wasn't in great shape and he didn't like her driving it around, thinking about the fact it could let her down again anytime. For someone raised in a big city like 'Frisco she sure acted like a small town girl. There was a certain naivety about her that made him worry sooner or later L.A. was just going to swallow her whole.


	3. Citadel

AN: To answer a few questions that have been asked, this story is coming after the film and Jesse is dead. Sorry but the whole point of this story was to get away from my sort of larger than life style and write something more real, and I think from the way it looked at the end of the movie Jesse is dead. I guess he could manage to survive but in reality life often isn't that fair. The whereabouts of the rest of the team is unknown at this time. They'll be back at some point, don't worry. The story is mostly about how Mia and Vince come to terms with what happened, their new life, and the fact they figure Dom, Letty, and Leon will never return. The plan is to have twelve chapters, one sort of prologue one, which was 'Break Away' and one for each of the songs on the album 'Wreck of the Day' and trying to tell the whole story in twelve chapters is why the chapters are so long. As you might have noticed each chapter deals with one week of their lives, from one song to the next. Anyway, any more questions feel free to ask.

**Catalyst**

By - _TempestRaces_

Chapter Three – **Citadel**

Gem drove home sedately, status quo for her. She was scared the one time she pushed the Honda would be the time it finally just gave her the old one finger salute and died on her. She knew that she was going to need to add save for new car to save for moving into own place on her list of things to do with her tip money.

She pulled into her parking spot at home and went to her room, flopping back on her bed the moment she had her shoes off. As soon as she lay down she started to mentally deconstruct her performance on the stage. There wasn't a lot she could have done differently and she knew it. The song had come straight from her heart and her performance had been like letting people into her soul. It was hard to do that sort of thing any other way than all the way.

When she'd gotten the phone number from Vince he'd looked happy to give it to her. She wasn't going to have to worry that her calling Mia would tick him off. She felt a bit guilty her interest in Mia wasn't just in the girl herself, but in the insight she might get into Vince from her. She rationalized her feelings by telling herself she did like Mia, and did need some friends in Los Angeles.

Gem knew she had a need to take care of people who seemed to need it. Both Mia and Vince looked like they could use a friend. It had just seemed to Gem like Vince was better at making do on his own than Mia. She figured she'd call the other girl over the weekend and see what was up.

Her time on stage had left her tired out, an after effect of the adrenaline, she guessed. She was never quite as tired coming home from the Cobalt as she was this night and the fact it had been open mic night was the only discernable difference. She yawned hugely and got off her bed with some difficulty. She was getting ready and going straight back to bed, no staying up all night writing this time. She could hardly keep her eyes open as it was.

She arrived at work the next day feeling pretty good after a contented night's sleep and a relaxing day spent doing not much of anything.

"There's my resident superstar." Barry called as he watched Gem push through the door. "Ready for another fantastic Friday?"

"You know it!" Gem called back with a smile. She enjoyed her job. She liked dealing with the public and she really liked Barry and Barbara.

"Good. It's looking like its going to be a busy one."

"Why's that?" Gem asked, wondering what was so different about this Friday from the last one.

"That bar down the street, Barney's, got shut down for letting minors in. Most of the bars in this area will end up getting a piece of his customers since we're in the same area. Not to mention that we got Crazy Horse booked for tonight and they always go over really well."

"Well, busy just makes the night go by fast so bring it on." Gem started off toward the back area to ditch her stuff and get her apron on.

"So," Barry looked at her speculatively. "You and Grumpy Bear, was it? What's up there? You sweet on him?"

"No." Gem stammered and blushed slightly. "He felt bad about things is all and offered to let me use his guitar for my song. I talked him into playing it for me too since I couldn't play any guitar, no matter how nice of a guitar it was. Heck, even if it was Hendrix's guitar itself I couldn't play it well enough to go out on stage and try."

"Ok." Barry held up his hands. "I was just curious. It looked like he was giving you his number last night is all."

"His friend's number. Something about the girl he lives with," Gem trailed off and blew some stray hairs off her forehead in a huff. "She's so sad. I'm just going to call her sometime."

"Alright," Barry looked like he had more to say but thought better of it. He changed his mind again. "Gem!" He called after her as she was finishing her path to the back room.

"Yeah?" She turned to face him, pausing on her way.

"It's just that," Barry sighed. "I get the feeling this guy could be very bad news. There was some trouble a while back and he looks like one of the guys that was involved. I don't know if he was or wasn't, but I want you to watch out for yourself ok?"

"Sure. I only want to talk to Mia. It's not Vince I'm going to get involved with."

"Ok sweetheart, but still, be careful. Remember what I told you about L.A.?"

Gem's forehead wrinkled as she thought hard about the first night she'd met Barry. "That it can be a harsh place?" She asked, not sure.

"Yeah, with some harsh people, so just please be careful."

"I will." Gem walked away again, lost in thought. There had been some trouble a while back and Vince looked like a guy who had been involved. What kind of trouble? It would sure explain a lot if it had been some activity gone wrong.

She tied her apron on and turned to leave the back room which doubled as their staff room still lost in her own thoughts.

"Whoa there sugar." Barbara grabbed Gem by the shoulders to stop them from having a collision. "You look like you're on the moon."

"Not quite that far away, but close." Gem smiled at seeing the older woman who was fast becoming one of her only friends in L.A. "I'm just reflecting on Barry's 'L.A. is a harsh place' speech.

"Well, he's right. But he does tend to be overprotective of his ladies." Barbara smiled. "You just have to be careful who you run into here. Not everyone is who they seem to be on the surface."

"I know, and that's what scares me."

"Why, did something ha-"

"No, nothing like that. It's just that I need to find a new place to live soon and it's looking like I'll have a roommate. I don't know how to find one who's not a psychopath."

"Try the UCLA wanted bulletin boards. If you find a house of young ladies looking for one more that would be safer then moving in with some stranger."

"You're right. I'll hit the campus tomorrow and see who's looking for what. It's the best idea I've heard yet. I'm so sick of living in the rooming house."

"You live in a rooming house? Those places aren't safe!"

"This one is totally above board. I've been there three weeks now and never had a problem."

"That's now. You don't know who'll move in tomorrow."

"I said I was trying to move." Gem grinned, trying to reassure her friend. "I'll be ok. I'm careful about who knows I live alone and the people in the house don't know my folks don't live close."

"Ok, but I definitely second the opinion you need to find a new place."

"I'll get looking tomorrow." Gem put an arm around Barbara's shoulders and headed toward the main room of the club. "We got work to do woman."

"Yeah, look! It's your favourite customer!" Barbara said with a slight gesture toward the dark corner. "He's all yours honey."

"He's not so bad. Just don't let him intimidate you and he's not hard to take."

"You can have him Sugar. The fact he likes you was like music to my ears."

"He doesn't like me."

"Of course not sugar. Get to work." Barbara pushed her young friend off into the crowd.

"You shouldn't be encouraging her." Barry admonished as they both watched Gem smile in her genuine way at a table of young men.

"Encouraging her how?" Barbara asked in confusion.

"By encouraging her to take an interest in that man. You know he's likely one of those guys who got out of that thing on a technicality last year. Is that the kind of person you want Gem hooked up with?"

"Now Barry, you don't know he had anything to do with it. It was all kept pretty hush hush anyway. It could have just been a rumour, or it could have been played way out of context."

"Even still, he's too rough around the edges for Gem. She needs a nice artistic type, not some rough whatever he is."

"Mechanic." Barbara said absentmindedly as she contemplated the crowd.

"Come again." Barry asked, not getting the reference.

"He's a mechanic, he fixed Gem's car last week when it broke down. That's how she knows his name."

"Oh, well even still. She needs someone like her, artistic and musical."

"He played the guitar pretty well for a guy who isn't musical."

"You know that metal, head banger stuff isn't what I have in mind when I say musical."

"Umm." Barbara said with a small smile for her friend and moved off into the crowd. Barry watched her go with a frown. Barbara could take it into her head to play matchmaker. If she was going to play those games with Gem he wished she'd pick someone other then the man in the dark corner to be on the other end. He wasn't sure about why but the idea of Gem in a relationship with that man was very unsettling.

Gem slowly made her way around the room, delaying her trip over to Vince as long as she could. She didn't know why, since he wasn't drunk yet and they hadn't fought lately, but for some reason she didn't look forward to talking to him. Maybe it was because she thought now that he had come down from his performance with her he'd be upset she'd talked him into it.

As was the norm, it came to the point where if she didn't go see if he wanted anything it was going to be obvious she was purposefully not going over to his table. She took a second to find her smile and walked over.

"Evening." She greeted him.

"Uh." He grunted back for a reply.

"Get you anything?" She asked, making sure her smile came across in her voice. He only pointed at his bottle. _So we're back to this_. She delivered his drink and took a few more orders. She had just finished delivering a big tray of drinks to a table of young people when she heard Barry calling her.

"You got a phone call." He said as Gem approached the bar.

"I do?" Gem asked, puzzled. No one knew she worked at the Cobalt aside from people who were already in the bar. She sure as heck hadn't told her dad, who would have flipped out at her.

"I don't know any other Gems so yeah, you do." Barry held out the phone.

"I'm sorry for getting calls here. I never gave out the number or told anyone where I work. I don't know who it could be."

"It's fine, just answer the phone. She's on hold on line one."

_She? _"Hello?" Gem answered.

"Hi." An unsure female voice replied. "Well, this is strange." The voice giggled before continuing. "This is Mia, we met last Saturday."

"Oh yeah." Gem was surprised to get this call. She'd planned on calling the other girl herself the next day. "How are you?"

"I'm ok. I'm sorry to call you at work. I remembered where you said you worked and got the number out of the phone book."

"It's ok. I meant to call you. I got your number from Vince but I haven't had time to call."

"You did?"

"Yeah." Gem sighed. "It's just that I don't have a lot of friends here and you seemed nice."

"Thanks. I don't really have a lot of friends here anymore either. We'll get together sometime then. When's good for you?"

"I have work tomorrow at eight but I don't work on Sunday or Monday."

"Why don't you come over on Sunday and we'll make dinner?" Mia asked, the idea of having someone to cook for who might just appreciate it made her unreasonably happy. It was just that it had been so long since she'd sat down to a meal with someone who was both present and looking forward to her cooking.

"That sounds great! I'm getting so sick of takeout and I just can't bring myself to cook in a kitchen I share with ten males who can hardly clean themselves and their rooms let alone a kitchen."

Mia laughed. "That sounds familiar. Just come over around 3 or whatever's good and we can hang out while I cook."

"It's a date." Gem and Mia said their good-byes and hung up.

Gem stood staring at the phone for a minute after she'd hung it up. It had been strange to hear Mia's voice on the line. She'd intended to call the other girl but had kept putting it off out of nerves. It was like something was trying to tell her she was meant to talk to Mia and it wasn't going to be put off simply because Gem didn't have the courage to pick up a phone and dial.

The end of the night finally came. The bar had been packed just as Barry had predicted. However, Gem noted she still wasn't as tired while she escorted the last stragglers out the door as she had been the night previous. She locked the door and then leaned on it with a tired sigh. Busy meant lots of tip money. Her pocket of her apron was filled with it.

"Ok, I'm out of here. Someone want to lock the door behind me?" Gem called in the direction of the office.

"Sure honey. Drive safe, ok?" Barbara said as she came to let Gem out of the club.

"Always. See you tomorrow."

"See you then."

Gem headed off around the corner of the building with a wave for Barbara. As she rounded the corner she looked up to find someone sitting on her car hood. She jumped back in shock. The last thing she'd expected to find was someone waiting on her car. She couldn't decide if she should run back into the bar for help or just walk over and find out what whoever that was wanted. She leaned out and peeked at her car again.

It was about then she realized she knew the physique and shaggy hairdo. _Vince. What's he doing on my car?_

"Car won't go?" She called as she walked up.

"Just wanted to make sure no wierdos waited for you."

"So, did any?" Gem asked, a smile flirting with the corners of her mouth. Would he get the poke at him?

"Just one." He smirked back as he reclined onto his palms back on her hood.

She laughed. "Should I run and tell Barry to dial 911?"

"Not all wierdos are dangerous. Some just want to make sure your car starts and you aren't left in a parking lot alone with a car that won't run."

"I see. Well, in that case, I better see if the old girl is still alive so you don't have to sit on her all night."

"You know this car isn't going to last much longer right? The valve seals are shot on three out of four intake valves, the radiator is missing so many fins I don't know how it isn't leaking like a sieve and the tires are almost bald."

"All those things can be fixed." Gem answered tightly, defensive over her car even though she knew it was tired out.

"All those things would cost more to fix than this car is worth, even if I give you the labour at half price. Fuck, even if I do it all for free. The parts alone will cost you more than anyone would pay for this."

"Well, I'll just have to live with not driving fast in the rain and seeing the peals of blue smoke behind her for awhile."

"I hope you ain't due for a smog test any time soon and you don't hit any roadside checks. They're towing this puppy if you do. Make sure they tow it to my shop."

"I'm sure I'll be fine. I don't plan on doing any highway driving anytime soon." Gem slid into her car but left the door open so she could continue to talk if her new 'carsitter' was so inclined.

"How much could you spend on a car now?"

Gem pulled a wad of bills out of her pocket, the sum total of her tips for the night. "About this much."

Vince frowned. "Seriously."

"That is seriously. I need to find a new place to live and that means security deposits and utility deposits and groceries. I cannot afford another car right now."

"Ok, I get it. What about a car payment. What could you afford month to month."

"That's going to depend on where I end up living and how much it costs. I guess I could take the bus instead of having a car."

"You can't take the damn bus home from this area of town at this hour."

"Ok." He was so angry at the idea Gem agreed with him just out of principle. "I'll let you know what I could swing when I have a permanent place to live, ok?"

"Fine," He turned and started to walk away.

_He is one of the rudest people I know_, Gem thought. "'Night!" She called happily after his retreating back and grinned as he paused a moment, back going stiff. He only raised a hand and did a flippant little wave without turning around.

_If he's so rude why are you grinning like a mad woman in the parking lot over some of his attention, even though it was to yell at you about your car?_

She played Devil's advocate with her own mind. _Because it's fun to bait him_.

She started her car and turned on her lights before sliding it into drive and pulling out of the lot.

Vince watched her start her car and waited until she actually moved out of her space. Her transmission was going too but he didn't have the heart to dump that on her. She needed a new car. Even if she didn't he didn't know how she stood to drive around in that dusty little Honda. _Slower then molasses flowing uphill in January_, he thought with a smile. Until thinking of slow Hondas made him recall Hector thinking his Civic was fast. A fond smile crossed his face. _Thought he could run with anyone in that ugly thing. Wonder what in the fuck he's up to now. Did he ever make the NHRA circuit? _ The smile quickly turned to a sneer accompanied by a roared expletive and slap to the top of the steering wheel.

Racing was over and done with. Thinking about it would just bring back the desire to go back to the warehouse. To go see Hector and Edwin. Shoot the shit and see what everyone was driving these days. That wasn't who he was anymore. It wouldn't be the same without the team. It was a chapter in a closed book.

_So why do you want to fill the nitrous and go remind those guys who use to rule their world?_

_Dom use to rule their world. It was never you and it never will be so start the fuckin' car and go the fuck home!_

Deciding he had simply been without female company too long and a certain part of his anatomy knew that the warehouse would be the easiest place to end the dry spell; he started the car up and squealed out of the parking lot. He didn't need an organized race to fulfill the desire to drive too fast. He could do it from any stoplight in the city.

He wasn't lucky enough to catch any reds until he'd driven around aimlessly for about half an hour. Then he hit one that had just changed and waited. Sure enough when a car pulled into the other straight lane the kid behind the wheel revved up his engine and looked over at Vince, the driver and all his friends laughing.

_Laugh it up now_, Vince thought. _Soon_ _as the Stillin spools I'll wipe the smile right off_.

The light went green and both cars took off. It was mere seconds later when the kid who'd been so confident at the light switched lanes to get behind Vince and slowed down.

"Pussy." Vince said irately. He'd been hoping for a bit of a challenge. He turned the car for home with a sigh. Only a half day tomorrow, then he could spend all day Sunday hiding from Mia someplace. Something had to give.

Saturday night passed in a blur. Gem couldn't believe how many people showed up to the Cobalt. She wasn't surprised to see that Barry had hired a bouncer. Just for the really busy nights, Barry told her. Someone had to check ID's and kick out the rowdies and Barry said he knew 'his girls' had enough to worry about without worrying about carding people and dealing with real a-holes.

The pace kept Gem run off her feet. The Saturday crowd ordered a lot of shots and that always kept her busy. Gem watched as yet another drunk young person was escorted out of the bar to a taxi and wondered if people knew it was far harder to keep track of how much you'd had to drink when all you drank were shots. They didn't fill up your stomach like mixed drinks did, and you didn't have to go to the bathroom as often so you had less ways to gauge how much you'd had.

As she watched Billy, the new bouncer, escort yet another drunk young lady to the curb-a drunk young lady who Gem knew had been drinking Tequila shots all night-she figured the answer was no, they had no idea where their limits were. That was one of the big reasons why she rarely drank and mostly stuck to wine when she did. A glass or two of wine with a nice meal was the extent of her alcohol consumption for the most part.

'Her' mechanic, as everyone now called Vince behind the scenes-and that included Tamica and Elliott-was busy getting totally loaded for bear again. Gem saw another night of driving him home in her near future. There was no way they could let him drive in the state he was in. She hoped that he had his keys and didn't pass out this time. She'd hate to wake Mia up again. Mia looked like she needed all the sleep she could grab.

"We seriously need to rethink our policy on cutting people off." Gem said to Barry and Barbara as they surveyed Vince in all his soused glory after the Cobalt was closed.

"I think I finally see it your way." Barry answered on a sigh. "What're we gonna do with him?"

"Get him up and I'll get his keys and drive him home." Gem said after a moment's thought, ending on a sigh of her own. She really didn't need the extra hour of driving, tired as she was.

"We can just call him a taxi. You remember his address?" Barbara joined the conversation.

"I'll never hear the end of it for leaving his car here all night."

"It's hardly your problem." Barry said hotly, glaring at Vince. Not that the latter would ever know, not passed out leaned back in his chair like he was.

"I know, but I have a funny feeling when he's annoyed he makes life hard for Mia."

"Who's Mia?"

"His," Gem hesitated, unsure how to define the relationship Vince had with Mia. "His friend. I'll see if I can wake him up again."

"If you need a hand just holler." Barry turned to walk away and Barbara when with him.

"Vince, you have got to stop doing this." Gem said as she dropped into one of the other empty chairs at his table wearily. "Come on, wake up."

"Jesse, fuck off. It's Sunday. I ain't doin' shit to that Jetta on Sun-" He cut himself off on a snore.

He had a horrible habit of slurring his words, Gem thought as she tried to figure out what he'd said. "I'm not Jesse Vince. I'm Gem. Come on, wake up." She shook his shoulder, fighting a deja vu flashback to last Saturday night.

"Wha?" Vince woke up with a shake of his head and a grimace for what that did for his orientation of the room.

"Time to go home. Come on, up." Gem stood up, hands pushing off her thighs. "Let's go." She was glad when he listened. "Now hand over your keys." He gave her a belligerent look. "I know you aren't going to make me go through the whole speech again."

He handed over his keys with a sigh.

"You ever heard of gum?" Gem asked as she wrinkled her nose. "Your breath could take paint off walls." All she got was an even nastier look than the one over surrendering his keys. "Ok, we are out of here." She started for the door. Barbara handed over her purse as she walked past on her way to the door.

"Night sugar. See you Tuesday."

"See you then." Gem called back with a smile as she watched Vince almost trip over the doorsill on his way out. She shook her head with a sigh and a rueful glance at Barbara before following him out the door. She heard Barry lock the door behind her. "Ok, you need to tell me which of these keys opens your door."

"Why?"

"So I can make sure you get in the house without waking up Mia."

He looked like he was going to argue telling her which key was the house key on his chain but relented when he saw the look on her face. "It's this one." He pointed out the appropriate key unsteadily.

"Thank you."

The trip to the parking lot and rest of the ride home to Vince's house went by without incident. Of course, Vince was sulking. Gem did wonder if you could call it sulking when an adult man pouted, but since she really didn't have any other word for it, that was what he was doing in her mind. She knew he drifted in and out of awareness over the course of the ride home. She knew when he passed out because he talked to people in his sleep. He had imaginary conversations with several people but most of it came out too garbled for her to make heads or tails of.

She pulled up to his house and stalled the car by mistake as she was getting ready to turn it off.

"Holy fuck! You still don't know how to drive?"

_At least it woke him up_, she thought. "Sorry. Can you walk yourself into the house or should I go with you?" She asked with a sugary sweet smile.

"Take the fuckin' house key off the damn chain."

She complied and held the key out. "Sleep tight." Her smile became a huge grin at his expense as he tried without a lot of luck to get out of the low slung car. He must have caught her smile because once he was on his feet he turned back toward the cabin of the car and flipped her off.

As he listened to her enthusiastic laughing after he flipped her off Vince had to fight a chuckle of his own. What could he do that wouldn't simply goad her into being even nicer to him? Her laugh was honest and open, not forced or artificial.

He wondered briefly what she'd say if he asked her in before some pocket of common sense he hadn't known he still had made him slam the door. He watched as his own tail lights drove off and turned down a side street out of his sight.

He started up the front walk. "Don't wake Mia." He said out loud in a snobby, unflattering impersonation of Gem. "Yeah, heaven fuckin' forbid we wake Mia." He snarled as he used his key to open the house door. He continued to curse in his head even as he went out of his way to stumble quietly through the house, brushing his teeth with a vengeance instead of just passing out like he was inclined to do.

He woke up around dinner time the next day and dragged himself down the stairs. He set the coffee maker to brew a pot and sat at the kitchen table with his head in his hands. His head felt like someone was using an air chisel right behind it-it normally would have been Leon, Leon enjoyed using loud tools for extended periods just to piss off the other people in the shop around him-and it also felt like the room was spinning at two thousand rpm. He groaned, wanting to look at the coffee maker to see how close to ready the pot was, but he was scared if he moved his head he'd have to try and run upstairs for the bathroom and he didn't know if running was within his current abilities.

"Another one of those nights V?" Mia asked as she walked in the back door.

_She sounded happy. _Vince looked up and winced. _Yep, definitely happy_.

"When did you get home last night? I swear I didn't hear you."

"Dunno." He grumbled back and figured since the damage was done he might as well check out the coffee.

"Yes it's ready. I'll get you some." Mia said, smiling and crossed the kitchen to the mugs. She set the steaming black coffee in front of him seconds later.

"Thanks." He grumbled.

"No problem." Mia went back into the kitchen and started taking out pots and pans.

"Do you have to do that so loud?"

"I'm not being loud."

"Ok, sure." He clearly didn't believe her. "Do you have your new friend's phone number?"

"Who?" Mia asked in mock confusion.

"Gem. You have so many new friends you don't know which one I might mean?"

"Since you know her name why didn't you just use it? There's no need to be snippy and sarcastic with me because you got stupidly drunk and now you're facing the morning after. What do you want her number for?"

"Want my car back."

"You know V, she's not your taxi service."

"Never asked her to be."

"No, you more or less asked her to let you do something stupid that could have gotten you and God knows how many other people killed. She's too nice to let that happen. If you're going to drink that much, and lord knows I'd never dare tell you not to, the least you could do would be take a cab to and from the place so you don't have to drive."

"Jesus fuckin' Christ!" Vince roared, realizing after how stupid a move it had been when his ears started to ring. "Do you have the phone number or not." He asked through clenched teeth when his vision cleared.

"No I do not. It hardly matters because she already called this morning. She's coming to visit me later and I told her it hardly made sense for her to make a trip over here twice since you weren't even up yet anyway. She's going to drive over here for two and I will take her down to get her car then. That is if I have this lasagne ready to go into the oven by then."

"Is that your scratch lasagne?" Vince asked, perking up a bit and almost forgetting Mia had given someone permission to keep his car even longer than they had to.

"Yes, and if there is any left after Gem and I have our dinner then you can have it tomorrow for your lunch."

"What'd ya mean tomorrow?"

"I mean that for tonight you are officially kicked out of this house. I'm having a friend over and the last thing I want is you here being rude to her and scaring her off."

"If she was gonna get scared off she would have already. I met her first." Vince grumbled.

If Mia didn't know better she'd almost swear he sounded jealous that Gem was coming to see her and not him. "Maybe so, but either way, tonight is a girl's night and you are not invited. Go hang at the garage, go hang at Cory's-I'm sure he's having some sort of party you can fry your brains out at-or just go drive around the city all night. I don't really care which but you can't stay here."

"Fine, Jesus. I didn't know I wasn't welcome in my own house."

Mia had finally decided she was finished playing nice. It never got her anywhere with Vince anyway. "I was beginning to wonder if this was still your home anyway. You're never here. It's like this is your bed and that's about it. You sleep here. You could almost as happily live in your car. The bathtub taps still leak, you promised to pick up the back yard and mow the front but none of it ever got done. You never do anything and I never see you so it's not like you're all that attached to the place. It won't kill you to find someplace else to be tonight."

Vince looked taken aback at Mia giving him what for. He didn't know if he should be glad she was finally getting some backbone or upset she was doing it at his expense. "Fine, I'll go to Cory's tonight. I'll just stay there and head to work from his place tomorrow."

"Good. Soon as Gem brings your car back."

"You think you're going to like her don't you?"

"Yes. Why? Scared that I'll fill her in all about you?"

"Mia." Vince started in a warning tone of voice. "No matter how much you like this girl, and how nice you think she is, there are some things you can't tell her. You know that right? Just because nothing happened after doesn't mean something couldn't if the right people got wind of details of certain happenings."

"I know Vince. I'm not stupid. Just tired and lonely. I think I deserve a chance to have a life again don't I? You got your second chance, much as you're throwing it all away every day and night."

"I surrender Mia. You deserve to have friends." He stood up. "I'm going to shower and pack a bag before she gets here."

"Ok." Mia didn't look up from her cooking. Vince left the room with a sigh.

Gem woke up late. It was her habit to sleep in on Sundays ever since she'd moved to L.A. Use to be she would have been up bright and early every Sunday to go to church with her mother, father, and brothers. At first she just hadn't known where there was a church to attend services at and once she did know where a few were she'd been working at the Cobalt and early mornings were not her friend.

She got up, had a leisurely shower, telling herself she was entitled to take longer than fifteen minutes in the bathroom every once in awhile, and got dressed. She didn't really know what to wear. She didn't know what Mia's style was like and she didn't want to show up overly casual or too dressed up. She eventually settled on a sky blue short sleeved shirt and a pair of black cotton shorts. She grabbed both her own keys and Vince's and headed down to the building parking lot. She left her hair down, telling herself she was doing it just because it was still wet even though she knew it was because she thought she might want her hair to hide behind at some point.

With a sigh of relief she saw Vince's blue car was still in the same shape she'd parked it in. She got in and started it up. With a guilty look around she ejected Vince's CD from the player and slid her own in. She hated to break it to Vince, but she hated his taste in music. The burned CD she removed from the CD player had given her a headache half the way home from his house to her own, before she'd figured out how to change the setting to radio instead of CD. His stereo looked like something straight out of a science fiction story.

She'd thought her own nice. Her brother had bought it for her as a gift. Second hand, but top of the line, he'd said. It was clear his idea of top of the line and some other people's were quite different. As she pulled out of the parking lot her CD started playing Gloria Gainer's hit 'I will survive'. Gem belted out the words along with the artist at the top of her lungs as she drove with the windows down, letting the air whip around the interior.

Her brother had told her anyone who lived for music the way she did deserved to have the best stereo money could buy, but that on what he made from their parents he couldn't afford that stereo. They'd laughed before he'd told her the one he had managed was very nice and in good shape, even used.

He'd set up the sub to just fill in the low end for her, not to rattle the teeth out of her head. She knew on the system in Vince's car if she really turned it up on a bass filled song she'd be in danger of rattling the windows right out of the car. She pulled up to a red light and downshifted into neutral to wait for the light to go green. She heard a funny noise and looked over to her left. Some guy was sitting in the next lane over revving his engine at her.

Why? Was his car going to stall? It was about then she realized he wanted her to race him when the light went green. She shrugged. It wasn't her car so she wasn't racing it, but it wouldn't hurt anything to take off as fast as she could if she didn't break the speed limit doing it, would it?

When the light went green she got it in first as fast as she could and took off. The force of the take off threw her back into the seat and she was suddenly glad for how close it hugged her body. By the time she shifted the car into third gear she realized she had passed the guy in the other car. She looked down and saw how fast she was going. "Oh boy." She said to herself as she let off the gas. The car made a strange popping noise as she did so and she worried she'd broken something. She finished the drive at or slightly above the speed limit. The car never made the noise again but she knew she was still going to have to mention it and dreaded doing so.

She pulled up to the curb of what she now thought of as Mia's house and parked the car. She put the windows up and put the CD player back the way she'd found it.

The door opened while she was looking down at the CD player and she gasped, looking up.

"Did you figure that out ok?" Vince asked from beside her, crouching down.

"It only took me 15 minutes to get the CD in." She answered, sensing he wasn't mad about her using the radio. He laughed.

"I take it you never made it do this then." He reached across her and pushed a button on the electronic device above the CD player proper and a 7 inch TV monitor slid out and flipped up.

"Wow. Is that TV? In the car?"

"Not TV. It's a DVD player."

"Really?" Gem asked in shock.

"Yeah. If you really looked around the car in daylight you'd notice the two extra screens in the back." Vince grinned.

"Why do you need TV in your car?"

"Because I can have TV in my car."

"I'll never understand male logic as applied to electronic accessories." Gem answered with a grin of her own.

"You didn't have any trouble with it on the way here."

"Not trouble so much." Gem pulled a face. "It made a funny noise when I had to let off the gas once though."

"After you were speeding?"

She looked chagrined. "Maybe a little." She held her first finger and thumb up a few centimetres apart. "It's just that I never had a car that actually accelerated when you wanted it to before and it went a bit to my head."

"Don't panic. It's ok and the noise is just the blow off for the supercharger letting off pressure. It always makes that noise after it goes into boost and then doesn't need the boost anymore."

Gem sighed in relief. "I'm so glad to hear that. I was worried I'd broken it."

"You'd have to really try to break it. I'll take you for a ride some time and show you that after the way I drive, the car thinks it's on vacation with you behind the wheel."

"I think I'd like that." Gem blushed after she made her admission.

"Well, it won't be today because Mia kicked me out so you two could have a girl's night in without me."

"Can't say I blame her." Gem smirked.

"Get in the house before I change my mind about the drive then."

Gem picked up her bag off the passenger side and stood up out of the car. "I'm going then." She started to head around the car toward the front walk.

"Gem?"

His call of her name stopped her. "Yes?"

"Nothin'. I'll see you around."

"Ok, see you around." She turned back toward the house and walked the rest of the way up the lawn, shouldering her bag.

Gem heard Vince take off from the curb with a squeal as she knocked on the front door hesitantly. Now that she was about to come face to face with Mia in daytime she was very nervous.

The door was pulled open, opening into the interior of the house. "Hey." Mia said, smiling happily. "Come in." Mia pushed the screen door open and stood back to let Gem pass her into the shady interior of the house.

"Hey. How are you?" Gem asked as she stopped in the hall.

"Good. Come on back this way with me." Mia led them through the house to the kitchen in the rear. It was small but had a breakfast bar across half the entrance with a couple of stools positioned in front of it. "Have a seat." Mia waved toward the stools. "I'm just going to finish this up and we'll go get your car."

"No rush. My car's not going anywhere."

"Is it broken again?" Mia frowned, thinking they should have sent Vince after it if it was broken down again.

"No. It's just so pathetic that no one is going to steal it. Heck, if they did and tried to speed away the thing would likely blow up anyway."

"That bad huh?"

"Well, Vince says the tires are bald, the valve something-or-others-whatever they are, three out of four of them-are shot, and the radiator is hanging onto its contents by its fingernails."

"Wow. Can't he fix it?"

"He can, but he says it wouldn't be worth it so I may as well get a new one. I just can't swing it right now."

"I bet driving the Maxima was a treat for you then."

"That might just be the understatement of the year." Gem giggled. "When I pushed on the gas and it took off I almost died of shock. I don't think I ever owned a car that did that before. Most of them sort of cough and sputter a bit before they move. I didn't want to give it back."

"You just might be the first person other than my brother who ever got to drive that car. Well, besides Vince, who acts like he raised it from birth, not slapped some aftermarket parts on it and let Jesse tune it for him."

"Can I do anything to help you?" Gem asked, realized she had been rude not to offer.

"No, I have it under control."

"I was wondering anyway, who are Jesse and Leon? Vince talks to them in his sleep." Mia gave Gem a curious look. "I mean when he passes out in the bar, not like _sleep_ sleep. Not that I'd know." Gem snapped her mouth shut, realizing her embarrassed babbling was making the situation worse not better.

Mia's gaze lost focus and it was clear she was deep in her thoughts. She seemed to come out of it and met Gem's eyes again. "Jesse and Leon were friends of ours. They were best friends. Jesse was killed last year and Leon ran off on us. What does Vince say about them?"

"It's always about cars. Like 'Leon I don't wanna work on your car yet. Wake me up later.' Or 'Jesse, um, f off, I ain't workin on that," Gem coughed rather than repeat the words Vince had used, "car on Sunday."

"Well, the boys all use to run the shop together, them and my brother. I guess that's why he talks to them like that. He spent a lot of his time up until last year working on cars with them."

Mia looked sad when she talked about the loss of her friends and brother. Much as Gem wanted to find out more about how Jesse had died and where the rest of the people Vince talked about had gone she decided to let it go for now. She didn't want their first day spending time together to be about bad memories.

"Well, I didn't know what you wanted to do after dinner so I stopped at the video store this morning. I also didn't know what kind of movies you liked to watch so I got two. 'Under the Tuscan Sun' and 'Blade:Trinity'."

"That's a great idea. Which would you rather watch?"

"Under the Tuscan Sun."

"I might just be in love with you Gem Davis. I can't remember the last time someone picked the girlie movie to watch. I felt like I was the only woman living with five guys."

Some quick mental math on Gem's part came up with only four guys. She thought it out again. Vince, Leon, Jesse, the brother. "You lived here alone with five guys?"

"Almost. Letty was female by gender and male by nature, most of the time."

"Letty?"

"My brother's girl. She took off with him, where ever they went." Mia knew what she'd told Vince, but it felt good to finally get some of what she'd kept inside for so long out in the open.

"I get a feeling you'd rather not go into this right now." Gem said, giving Mia a way out.

"I think I would like to talk about some of it if you don't mind. I know we just met so I don't want to dump all my problems on you right off the bat."

"I'm a pretty good listener and to be honest I knew from the first time I saw Vince drowning himself that something wasn't right."

"I can't go into all the details. I wish I could."

"I don't want to pry Mia. If you want someone to talk to I'm here. I must have seen this coming." Gem smiled reassuringly at the other woman before fishing in her bag again. She pulled out a bottle of red wine. "Technically to go with dinner, but if you want to break it open early," she reached back into the bag. "I brought two since I didn't know if Vince and anyone else would be here."

"Ok, marry me." Mia said, giggling. Gem laughed. It was obviously a jest made to illustrate how grateful Mia was to have someone else female around.

"If I'm not married by the time I'm thirty I'm all yours."

"Deal. Ok. I grew up in this house with my dad and brother. My mom died when I was like a year old so I don't remember her at all. My dad was a pro stock car driver-which is where Vince and my brother got into cars from-and he was killed in an accident on the track about five years ago."

"I'm sorry." Gem really was. She couldn't imagine growing up without both a mom and dad since hers had been so active in her life.

"Thanks. When dad died Dom was twenty and I was sixteen. They were going to let me stay with Dom until I was eighteen. My father's accident wasn't as straight forward as he made a mistake or his car had a mechanical issue. Another racer clipped his bumper and sent him into the wall of the racetrack. Dom saw the guy who did it a few days later and beat him half to death."

"Oh my lord." Gem breathed. Mia's life read like a soap opera and Gem had a feeling the tale was only beginning. No wonder the girl gave off an aura of sadness. She had certainly seen enough of it.

"They sent Dominic to jail for two years for it and I had to go stay with a distant relative while he was in. We owned the house and store outright when dad died because he had insurance in the mortgages. Vince looked after the places while we were all away and it wasn't ok but it worked out."

"Then Dom got out of jail."

"Yeah, and I came home and life was good for awhile. Dom didn't only get sent to jail for what he did though. He also got banned off the tracks for life. So much of where we all are today is because of the fact my brother couldn't do the one thing he wanted to do more than anything; race professionally."

"They banned him for life?" Gem asked, almost outraged on this stranger's behalf. "He was only barely more than a kid!"

"I know. I think it was because he was so young, he should have had his whole career ahead of him, that he took it so hard. We've always had a strong underground street racing scene in Los Angeles and when Dom found out about it he started to work on this RX-7 dad bought him to see if he could get it ready for the races. I know Vince got him a lot of the parts hot but the car was crazy fast and Dom started winning at these street races."

"So people take their cars and race down some street someplace?"

"Yes but it's highly organized. You put up money to race and the winner gets all the money that was put in. Dom was a natural. Vince helped him with is car. We had a good time honestly. At least, at first we did." Mia kept working on dinner while she spoke. It was like by keeping her hands busy it let her mind be free to tell the story. "Then Dom started wanting parts-claiming he needed them-that Vince couldn't get him by getting them as they 'fell off the back of a truck'. He needed money for it all, plus the garage was suffering and needed a cash influx for the boys to turn it back around."

"He did something silly for the money didn't he?"

"Yep. He got involved in a business deal with the school rich kid, Johnny Tran. It was always suspected at school that Johnny's father was involved with Asian organized crime but nothing was ever proven. I do know that what Johnny and Dom were up to was not above board but it was getting Dom the money he needed for his car and the shop. Me telling him I thought it was a bad idea didn't deter him at all."

"This Johnny sounds like bad news."

"That's a serious understatement. Business went sour between them for a few reasons, not the least of which was Dom slept with Johnny's little sister."

"Wise." Gem shook her head, starting to like this Dom character less and less.

"Very." Mia replied sarcastically. "So our team and the Trans ended up in something of a feud. We were fine as long as they stayed off our turf and we stayed off theirs but Dom owed Johnny money and he couldn't get out of paying back and he didn't have it. So he mortgaged the house to get it. So then we had the cars to keep up and a mortgage payment to worry about. Not to mention worrying about running a café and a garage. I was in school, premed, but I had to drop out after the events of last summer."

"If you were smart enough to be premed you should go back. There's no way you should let anything stop you. I wish I was smart enough to pull off college but it just wouldn't happen. Besides I guess I taught myself all I need to know about music. But anyway, did you want to tell me what happened last summer?"

"After the thing with Johnny fell through and we still needed money Dom decided we couldn't make enough off the stores. He and Vince cooked up another plan to get the money. It wasn't legal and it backfired on them one day. We have this big thing in the desert every year in the summer called race wars. Jesse was the baby of our team. He threw down the slip to his father's car and lost. Against Johnny. He panicked and ran. Johnny found him later and gunned him down outside the house. He died in my arms on the sidewalk waiting for the ambulance." Mia started to cry.

"He was the baby and just a big kid. He never did anything to anyone and they shot him over a stupid Jetta. The Jetta wasn't worth as much as one of Johnny's outfits but he killed Jesse over it. Over it and the stupid shit with my brother. But neither of them had to pay for it, innocent, sweet Jesse did. He died while I held him and there was nothing I could do!" Mia was inconsolable and Gem got off her stool and rounded the counter, pulling Mia into a hug.

Mia latched on and sobbed on Gem's shoulder. She'd never had a third party she could share her guilt with. Everyone but Vince had abandoned her and even Vince had been laid up in the hospital out of his mind on painkillers and drugs at the time. Then afterward he'd felt guilty enough and had been going through too much on his own for her to burden him further.

"Shush." Gem made unintelligible words of comfort as she just let the obviously grief stricken Mia cry on her shoulder. After a few minutes Mia started to calm down. Gem got her a tissue.

"Thanks. You know I never got to tell anyone that before." Mia sniffled and gave Gem a watery smile. "I think I feel better already."

"I'm not surprised! Holding something like that all bottled up inside for over a year."

"I want to finish the story, if you don't mind." Mia said with resolve. It had to come out. She'd keep the incriminating parts out as much as she could but Vince had no right to ask her to keep all her feelings inside. She'd done it for almost a year and it had almost killed her. "Jesse died. There was an accident. Vince was hurt pretty bad and had to be airlifted to the hospital. That happened before Jesse ever even came back. Dom sent Vince to the hospital all alone and came back here to go looking for Jesse. He never found him. Letty and Leon took off as soon as they left Dom home with his car. I never heard from them again. Dom took off in the end to follow them."

"Why didn't you go with him?"

"He never offered. Never came home to tell me. He just took off. Knowing Dom he thought he was protecting me, like if I didn't know where he was the cops couldn't touch me. Fine, but that doesn't explain why he hasn't found a way to contact us since. He doesn't know Jesse is dead, he doesn't know if Vince lived or not, not unless he found some way to find out without contacting us."

"I," Gem was flabbergasted. "I don't know what to say Mia. I wish I did. I can't imagine how I'd feel if my brother just took off on me one day and never called or wrote or came to visit. Did you ever try to find him?"

"At first I was too angry and later too tired and just done with the world to care to try. Now it's been too long and I'm not sure I want to find him. I don't trust myself around him after all this time. After what he left me and Vince to face alone. Does that make me a horrible person?"

"No. Gosh no. You have every right to be angry about it all." Gem was quick to reassure Mia. They both realized around the same time that Mia had finished assembling the lasagne while she'd finished her tale.

"There's one more piece of the puzzle though. There was a cop sent in under cover to try and figure out who was doing the thing the guys were doing. He hooked up with our team because Dom was the king of the scene. Came to see me every day for three whole weeks and had me make him a tuna sandwich with no crust. Every day. Always wearing these really worn tee shirts and washed out pants. Had this blonde everywhere hair and baby blue eyes. We all thought he was another down on his luck racer working for Harry when he was really a cop trying to bust someone for the thing that was going on." Mia gave Gem an apologetic look for her inability to elaborate beyond the point she was. Gem waved her off.

"I fell for him, hard. Dom even liked him. And then on the night of Race wars when Jesse was out scared and alone and the guys were planning another job he drops the bombshell on me that he was a cop all along. I got some of the details that he's the reason why Dominic is running free somewhere instead of locked up for what he was doing but then I never heard from Brian again. He said what he felt for me was real and that he never lied about his feelings but he just took off. I never heard from him since either."

"You really had the year from hell. I don't know how you did it. I don't know if I could."

"We all cope in our own ways I guess. Vince drinks, all the time." Mia took a deep breath. "And I've been practically starving myself to death. I've lost about twenty pounds and I was always getting flack for being too thin before. That was my coping method but it stops today. Life is going to go on."

"We are so going out for ice cream after dinner." Gem said and slapped the countertop with both hands.

"With hot fudge?"

"And whip cream."

"And sprinkles."

"And extra cherries." Gem finished and both girls laughed.

Mia looked up at the clock and saw it was already four. "Wow. Time flies. This takes about an hour to cook through."

"You made that totally from scratch didn't you?"

"How'd you know?" Mia asked.

"My folks run an Italian restaurant my family owns back in Frisco."

"You don't look Italian."

"We're a little bit of everything." Gem grinned.

"Ok, so do you want your wine chilled?"

"You don't drink cold wine-"

"-with Italian food." Mia finished and the girls shared a giggle.

They chatted about everyday things, likes and dislikes, over the first bottle of wine while the lasagne baked. Gem helped Mia make the salad then they set the table and sat down to eat.

"Do you mind if we say grace?" Mia asked hesitantly.

"Not at all." Gem bowed her head.

"Dear heavenly father, thank you for the many blessings you have given us and thank you for sending Gem to remind me that there are blessings in my life too. Please take care of Jesse and thank you for ball bearing turbos and four core intercoolers. Amen."

Gem gave Mia a strange look over the last part of her grace and Mia explained, sending both of them into wistful giggles. Mia for what she'd lost and Gem for what she'd never had-a close group of friends with a shared interest to grow up with. Mia had lost more than anyone her age ever should but she'd had a lot in her life to be thankful for too. Some things were worth experiencing.

As both woman pushed back from the table the surveyed the damage. "I can't believe we ate so much." Gem said as she looked at the lasagne, which was two thirds gone and the salad, which was demolished.

"I know. I don't know if I can move. But I still want that Sundae." Mia said and Gem groaned.

"By the time we drive someplace to get it I'll be ready too." She admitted with a rueful smile. "I haven't had a home cooked meal since I moved here from home."

"How long have you been living in L.A.?"

"Almost a month now. I still live in this rooming house over in Canoga Park."

"You live in a rooming house?"

"Couldn't afford my own place. Rent's cheap and it's only about 20 minutes from the Cobalt, which is over in Canoga Park as well."

"Vince drives half an hour to go drink in some bar?"

"I guess so. It's a pretty nice bar. Older crowd, mostly independent bands trying to make it, nice laid back atmosphere. I guess I can see why."

"I guess, but it's not like its Cheers or something."

"Can I let you in on a secret?" Gem asked, lowering her voice to a conspiratory level playfully.

"Sure."

"For Vince it sort of is like Cheers. They all know his name, only it's not Vince to them. It's grumpy jerk." Gem winked.

Mia started to laugh and once she got started she couldn't stop. "It sounds so much like what would really happen." She gasped out around her laughter. The sound was so infectious Gem joined her.

"They call him worse but I don't want to repeat it." She laughed. "They all make me wait on him because I've figured out the way to get under his skin is to be _nice_ to him."

Mia wiped some tears off her cheeks as she tried to stop laughing. "Nice to him. Priceless."

Gem suddenly sobered up. "I think Barb, she's the other waitress, is trying to fix me up with him. Every time she calls him 'your mechanic' she gets this look in her eyes."

"You? And Vince?" Mia asked, her laughter stopping too as she cocked her head to the side, a speculative gleam in her eyes. "He _has_ been happier lately."

"Not you too! Please don't start. I don't need a man in my life right now, let alone one with as much baggage as Vince. My grandfather was an alcoholic and I really don't want to see anyone else go through that, and gramps has been sober since I was twelve."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Ok, no more matchmaking dreams on this front. After putting up with Vince for the last year I totally don't know why I ever thought about inflicting him on you. And I wasn't even dating him."

"I like Vince. I'd love to be his friend because I think he needs one-and not the type of friend those guys in his garage are either-but I'm not at a point in my life where I can take on a serious relationship with anyone."

"I surrender. Let's go get those Sundaes. We'll come back, watch 'Under the Tuscan Sun' and drink the rest of the wine. How bout it?"

"Couldn't plan a better evening myself."

Mia picked up her keys and the girls headed out into the evening sun.

"So this is your car huh?" Gem asked as she slid into Mia's baby blue Acura.

"My brother got it for me."

"My brother got the Honda for me too but I think I got the short straw when it comes to whose brother buys a better car."

"Cars were everything to my brother. To most people they're a way to get to work or the store. To Dom they were life. He was a mechanic and a race driver. There was nothing else for him."

"Doug-that's my older brother-is going to law school. My other brother is Nick and he's going through the air force to become a pilot. He says when he's ranked high enough there he's going to take me up in a fighter plane."

"Cool."

It took the girls about an hour to get their treats and get home with them. The poured the rest of the first bottle of wine and popped in the movie. By the time the second movie was over they'd finished the other bottle of wine and were giggling at all the things wrong with Blade.

"She listens to music while hunting Vampires? I want to see one eat her. She's got it coming." Gem giggled.

"You have to admit Ryan Reynolds is hot."

"Yeah, ok, he is. But this is still a stupid movie."

By the time the second movie was over it was after twelve. Both girls were a bit less than sober, each having consumed a bottle of red wine. Suddenly Mia put a hand to her mouth. "Uh oh!"

"What's uh oh?"

"We never got your car so now you can't go home."

"I forgot all about my car but I couldn't drive myself anywhere right now anyway."

"You'll just have to stay here tonight. We'll get your car tomorrow."

"I don't know." Gem was hesitant. "I have nothing to wear to bed and nothing to change into tomorrow."

"I'll find you something." Mia got up on her knees on the couch and looked at Gem pleadingly. "I'll be just like when you were a kid. We'll have a sleepover."

"Ok."

"Great! Come on, I'll find you something to wear to bed and we'll change."

"Mia, I don't think your stuff is going to fit me."

"Yes it will."

But in the end it didn't. Gem tried on Mia's biggest shorts and tank top and still looked poured into them. "It's no good Mia. I look like this is body paint instead of clothes."

"Ok. One second." Mia turned away from the bathroom door and looked at the door to the right of the bathroom door. A door she hadn't opened in almost a year. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to push it open. She knew what she'd see, had an image of it in her mind's eye. It was totally devoid of her brother's presence, and Letty's too. They'd packed up all their stuff into boxes and put them into the closet. It was just another room in the house now, but she and Vince still ignored it.

At first they'd left it just the way Dom and Letty had, like some sort of shrine to them. But as the months had gone by and neither of them had bothered to call or come home the idea of a shrine to them had become obscene. Dom wasn't their god. Not anymore. So why did he deserve a pantheon in his memory? No longer was he the god of the Torettos. Mia had been raised strictly catholic so in her dogma your god didn't abandon you in your time of need. When you were in need was when your god was supposed to pick you up and carry you home.

Packing up their stuff was one of the only things she and Vince had done together. Mia had packed up Letty's stuff and Vince Dominic's. Then Mia washed the curtains and the bed clothes. And finally they'd closed the door. It wasn't like there had been a real point, not after they'd packed up all the personal belongings and washed everything else until not a solitary sign of the lives of their god and goddess had remained in the room. But it was just the principle of the thing. It was still like Dom's room to them. Vince could have moved into it instead of continuing to be a 'cellar dweller' as Mia had always called the boys, but he just couldn't. So the door remained closed.

It was still _Dominic's_ room. It was still _Dominic's_ house. _Dominic_ still ruled their lives. He might be dead, at the very least he just didn't care that they had worried about him for months, but he was still controlling them from no place near them.

_It ends now, it ends tonight_, Mia said to herself with determination.

She pushed open the door.

Half an hour later both girls were seated downstairs with a big bowl of popcorn between them and a pitcher of frozen margaritas in front of them.

"So where did you find this stuff? Forget you were fat at some point in your life?" Gem asked, looking at the red tank top and men's style boxer shorts she was wearing.

"No, they were Letty's." Mia said and took a huge drink of her frozen drink. "They left so fast they never took any of their stuff. It's all packed away upstairs."

"Is it ok I'm wearing her stuff?" Gem asked, concerned for what seeing her in this Letty's clothes would do to her fragile friend. But now that Gem thought of it, she didn't seem quite so fragile anymore.

"It's been almost a year that she's been gone now. I don't think she's coming back to take exception to it." Mia said with a sneer. "I closed up their room you know. At first we left it all just as they'd left it, but later we decided they weren't coming back and we packed it all up and cleaned up the room like that was going to get their, just their _presence_ out of our lives." Mia shook her head. "It didn't work. The door to the damn room was closed just like while all their stuff was still set out in it because it was still _their_ room. No more. I finally realized for them to be gone from my life I have to let go. Tonight I'm letting go."

"That's good." Gem really didn't know what else to say. She took a drink to cover her awkwardness with the topic.

"You said earlier you wished you could go to college but that you didn't think it could teach you anything about music. Are you a musician?" Mia asked, turning to face Gem, her legs folded under her as she cradled her bowl shaped glass between her hands.

Gem turned to face her in a similar position. "I sing and play bass guitar. I'm starting to write my own songs and compose them too, but I've never been much of a song writer. Honestly I only have one that ever turned out well and I haven't been able to start another one since."

"Vince plays guitar. Or at least he use to."

"Oh boy, he still does." Gem sighed wistfully, wishing she had a tenth of the skill 'her' mechanic did.

"How do you know that?" Mia asked, the devious light from earlier returning to her black eyes.

"He played for me last Thursday at open mic night. I can't play any guitar but bass and he offered to let me use his electric for my song. I told him it was no good because I couldn't play it and I talked him into playing for me."

"On stage?"

"Yep."

"In front of people?" Mia asked in shock.

"Yeah. If I ever write another song I hope he'll play the guitar line for me again. He's pretty good."

"The best." Mia smiled in pride. Gem only fought a blush and lost out.

The girls went to bed around two am. Around two thirty Gem was still up. Mia had put her in Dom's old room, hoping to show herself it was just a room Gem knew. She was slightly uncomfortable over it but figured that it would be good for Mia to see it really was just a room after all.

It was just that Dominic and Letty did seem to be held up to a different standard than everyone else in Mia's life. Her brother had been the ruler of this castle for about twenty four years and no one had an easy time dealing with the fact that the master bedroom was no longer his throne room.

Since she couldn't sleep anyway she got up, crossed the room to her bag and got out her notepad and a pencil. She sat cross legged on what even she thought of as Dominic's bed and looked at her pad.

_I'm sitting on a citadel_, she thought. _This room, this bed, it was the place where the king and queen of this castle lived. The stronghold, the solar, the castle keep. This room was the family citadel._

_I'm sitting here wasting my time with my head in the clouds_.

Was there a song in that?

"Did you stay up all night?" A deep voice asked from the door.

Gem snapped her head up to look, her mouth forming a startled o of surprise before it turned to a gasp of pain after her neck and back cracked. She saw Vince filling the doorway of the room as he leaned on the frame and she remembered just where she was guiltily.

"I guess I did. First I couldn't sleep then I started writing and I guess I got so engrossed I lost track of time." She looked out the window. "It couldn't have been all night. It's still dark out."

"For about another hour. It's almost five am."

Gem's smile turned sheepish. "I guess I should put this aside and try to get some sleep. If Mia finds out I stayed up all night she'll shoot me."

"I was just going to check on her before I turned in and saw this light on."

Gem watched as Vince's admission made him uncomfortable. She didn't draw attention to it. Clearly he wasn't comfortable with her knowing he worried about Mia enough to want to look in on her. "Ok, if you wouldn't mind shutting the door on your way out I'll try to catch a few hours before Mia wakes up. She talked about a big breakfast complete with pancakes and or French toast."

"Really?" There was a contemplative look on Vince's face that made Gem slightly nervous for some reason. "Ok, 'night."

"Night." Gem answered on a yawn.

Vince left, shutting the door behind him.

Gem woke to the smell of something delicious cooking and fresh coffee brewing. She didn't even take time to change her clothes, just padded to the kitchen in her borrowed shorts and tank. "That smells divine."

"Wondered if you were ever getting up." Mia chided gently, but there was a teasing light in her eyes and a lightness to her step. Vince was noticing it all from his seat at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, she wouldn't feed me until you came down. You don't sleep through the week or something Miss Davis?" There was a devilish look on Vince's face and Gem knew it was because she couldn't deny his claim without admitting she'd stayed up until five the night before.

"I guess it was just the quietness of sleeping in a house with only one other person around instead of twelve others." Gem was slightly self-conscious about her clothing now that she had been reminded of Vince's presence.

"What'd ya mean twelve other people?" Vince asked.

"Gem lives in a rooming house!" Mia said as though the very idea was so scandalous she could barely stand to say it.

"All you told me was you needed to move. Why didn't you tell me you lived in one of those damn places? It's not fuckin safe for you to live there!"

"For crying out loud!" Gem retorted to Vince. "I'm trying to move. I've lived there three weeks without any issues. It's not such a big deal."

"It's a big enough deal that you sure as hell can't live there no more." Vince almost roared back. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Mia, Gem, take seats."

With a look at each other the girls decided it would be easier to listen than to fight with him. They each sat down. "You should not live in a rooming house." Gem opened her mouth to protest his statement but he held up a hand to stop her. "And Mia, you should not live here alone."

"I don't. I live here with you."

"But like you said, I'm never here. That's not gonna change Mia. I got other priorities and that ain't gonna change. But there is a perfect solution to the whole situation."

"There is?" Mia asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, there is. Gem can move in here, rent Dom's old room for whatever she pays to live at the boarding house. She doesn't have to live there anymore, you can have someone you like to live with and I won't have to feel bad if I don't come around here much."

"That might be the first good idea you had since," Mia thought, "well, I guess first good idea about sums it up."

"I don't know." Gem hedged. "You weren't looking for a roommate."

"I wasn't, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like one. It would be nice to have another girl around the place. You said it was hard not being able to cook meals or have a bathroom you didn't share with ten other guys."

"I mean, this would be perfect, but I won't do it for what I'm paying to rent a room. That's not fair to you guys." Gem said, sitting back with her arms crossed belligerently. "We need to decide on fair rent."

"You're still only renting a room." Vince jumped in. He was thinking if she had a safe place to live that didn't cost her too much she would be able to afford to replace the Honda sooner than later and he wouldn't have to add worrying about her driving it to his list of other concerns.

"No, I'm getting a room in a house I only have to share with one other person. If I say I'll do it I want to pay my half of the bills."

"Third, technically, since Vince will still crash here at night. His room is in the basement."

"I won't be around much and I have my own bathroom down there. It's like a mini apartment now that I don't share with Leon and," He took a deep breath, "Jesse anymore."

"He eats here sometimes and that's about the extent of how much you'll see him." Mia said. "Oh please do it. Come on! We had such a good time."

"I work funny hours." Gem cautioned. "With what I work and what you said you normally work we won't see each other that much."

"You can come visit me at the café any time you get bored. You could even set up the extra room upstairs for your music."

"You're both sure it won't be an imposition?" Gem sighed, close to capitulating. It solved her housing dilemma neatly, plus she already saw a difference in Mia just from the one night of companionship. It was like having a reason to get up and cook meals was good for her. She wouldn't have to worry about getting normal people to rent from. She already knew how Mia kept house and had seen most of Vince's vices first hand.

"I really wish you'd say yes but I won't make you." Mia said as she got up to finish cooking the breakfast.

"Ok, I'll do it."

Mia squealed before running over to Gem and grabbing her. She almost jumped up and down with glee. Mia knew she had no words to say how grateful she was to end her unasked for stint of isolation from the world.

They moved all of Gem's stuff from her old address to the Toretto residence that afternoon, both Mia and Vince taking the day off work to help. With their three cars it only took one trip as Gem basically only had her clothes and her guitars, having rented her room fully furnished. There were some knickknacks and pictures to take down. The room was left as impersonal as she'd found it when she was done packing. She took one last look around. They moved the boxes containing all the personal possessions Dom and Letty had managed to ecru over their lives together in Dom's room down to the basement and put them in Jesse's old room.

Her room had been like her citadel in L.A. No matter what everyone seemed to think about the safety of rooming houses her room had been the one place she'd felt safe in the strange city up until everyone had started pointing out how unsafe they were.

Her life took on a new routine easily living with Mia. She didn't see too much of her on the Tuesday or Wednesday following her move. Mia worked days at her little groceria and Gem worked nights and slept in until late morning each day. When she woke up she worked on her song a little more, getting the music right to match the words.

Thursday came again and again she was ready but nervous. She was so sure she could convince Vince to play for her again she only brought her bass to work. She even talked Barry into letting her take off to get ready at seven instead of seven thirty. She found Tamica and Elliott already in the green room waiting.

"So you have our music oh great one?" Elliott asked as he pulled Gem into a hug.

"I do. I hope this isn't horrid." Gem answered as she handed over the drum score and piano music to her two friends.

"Where's your mechanic?" Tamica asked.

"Dunno," Gem gave up on protesting Vince wasn't 'her' mechanic. "I only hope he shows up. Otherwise we have no guitar music, just me and my trusty bass."

"Do we get to read the song before we go out there this time? It went over so well last week you can't honestly think you're no good this time, can you?" Elliott asked hopefully.

"No dice. I'm not sharing until I'm singing."

There was a knock at the door. "No one knocks on this door." Tamica muttered, curious.

"Come on in." Gem called. Vince poked his head in. "Um, I was wondering-"

"Yes." Tamica cut him off.

"Yes what?" Vince asked, irritated.

"Yes she wants you to play for her song again." Tamica retorted. Vince walked into the room and sat down in the armchair. Gem handed over the music without a word. It had been strange for her to live with a person who she saw more at work than she ever did at home.

When Mia said she'd only see him for the odd meal around the house she hadn't been kidding. He ate breakfast while Gem was still in bed asleep because despite the fact he was at the Cobalt drinking to some degree every night, staying until the same hour as Gem, he somehow managed to get up every day to be at work for 9am. He ate lunch at his shop most days, Mia said, and so far Gem had joined Mia at the café for lunch each day. Mia said that some days Vince would join them for supper but more often he'd eat over the sink before he went to get ready to go out for the night.

"I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?" Gem answered Vince's question, knowing instinctively he was speaking to her.

"Write for the guitar so well and be so bad at playing it." Vince picked out a few chords of her song as if to illustrate the point.

"I'm a composer. You don't need to know how to play every instrument in the orchestra." Gem shot back defensively.

"She still won't let us read it." Elliott whined.

"What?" Vince looked up in surprise from the page in front of him.

"You heard him." Gem's chin shot into the air. "No one is reading this."

"Again with this whole not letting us see the whole song thing. Gem, what's up with that?" Tamica griped.

"I don't know," Gem blushed. "I just don't think I can go out there and sing about this stuff if other people know what I'm going to say."

"Ok, lay off and learn your music." Vince said gruffly to Elliott and Tamica. They shared a look. _Now he's standing up for her? Interesting_, Tamica mused.

"Ok then." Elliott drawled and picked his sheet music back up.

Vince watched as Gem paced around the room with her music in her hands, reading it to herself, her lips moving along as she read the words silently. It was a trait he normally hated but found almost endearing when Gem did it with the frightfully nervous look she had on to accompany it.

"If we're going to keep doing this we need a name for ourselves. We can't go out there every week and be Gem and friends. It's not right." Gem said, pausing her pacing and looking around at the various people in the room with her.

"Why isn't it right? You write the songs, you sing them, we just go out and accompany you." Elliott asked.

"It just isn't. We're a band we should have a name for our band."

"It's not necessary." Tamica added.

"Yes it is so just think about it." Gem said before she started pacing again. After a few minutes, just as Vince was about to tell her to sit down before she made him dizzy, she did go sit down and pulled her bass out from under the couch. She got it out of the case and started to pick out a few notes.

Gem didn't know why she was still so nervous. After how well last week had gone she was fairly sure they weren't horrible. She thought-and was in fact fairly confident in fact-it had a lot to do with singing something about the life of a person on stage with her who didn't even know she was singing about him. At least indirectly about him. A lot of it was about her as well.

The call came over the loudspeaker for them to take the stage. _Show time_, Gem thought with a mental sigh.

They all took their places on the stage, Gem adjusting the microphone to her own height as Vince moved back into the shadows in the rear corner of the stage again and Tamica and Elliot found the seats behind their instruments.

"Please welcome back for their sophomore performance, Gem Davis and her accompanying band." Nalia said into her mic.

Gem laughed. "We promise to have a better name soon. We're working on it."

She's a natural, Vince thought as the audience shared her laugher, their chuckling spreading across their mass like a wave.

"Thanks for having us back again. I gather from the number of faces I see that were present last week too we didn't damage your eardrums irreparably and we will try not to do so this week either. Again, we're doing this in our spare time, we don't get a chance to practise together so forgive any mistakes we might make. This song is called Citadel and I hope you enjoy it." When she was finished speaking she turned back to the rest of her friends. "On three?"

They nodded. "One, two, three."

Vince started to play the guitar at the precise time Elliot started on the drums. The first of the song mostly showcased the two instruments. Gem joined them with the bass line and played a few measures before starting to sing.

"_I'm sitting on a citadel, contemplating life, making a point to waste my time. I'm walking on clouds of white_."

Her words really didn't make sense to him at first. Sitting on a citadel? What was that supposed to mean? He had a bad feeling he was going to think about it until he asked her about it and had it explained to him. The only part he could make any sense of was the part about the clouds. She did seem to walk around with her head in them often enough for that part to make sense.

"_What if I fall? What if I don't? What if I never make it home? What if I bleed? What if I break?_"

How many times had he asked himself those same questions? They were feelings that almost everyone in the world could relate to. He hesitated to think it was good but it was reassuring that Gem wasn't as perfectly unaffected by the world as she seemed on the outside. She rarely got mad or raised her voice. She didn't cry or scream. She laughed but most of the time it seemed restrained. She seemed so together that sometimes when he was home around her it almost made him mad because he was so volatile. All Mia had to do was say the wrong thing to him and he was flipping out at her, yelling and cussing. Of course that lead to her crying and calling him down. They'd had two such fights since Gem had come to stay with them. One over his time coming to the Cobalt and one over the fact he still hadn't fixed the things around the house he'd promised to fix

Always in the background, Gem watched with the detached calm look on her face. At least until after he left to 'calm down'. He assumed that Gem picked up the pieces he left Mia in after he was gone because when he came home Mia was always quiet again, yet still mad at him.

"_And I find that I can't take, the city below the citadel holding my own. The city below…_"

Gem found herself fighting her tears as she sang. She found the 'city below the citadel' almost impossible to take. The way Vince treated Mia half the time made her want to kill him. Couldn't he see Mia couldn't shrug him off or simply turn his bad mood into her own good one and kill him with kindness? She could only fight to keep her face neutral so she didn't seem to be picking sides and retreat to her room, to the house citadel. Had they always fought like they did now? How much of what had occurred last summer had Mia left out of her tale? Most of it, if Gem didn't miss her guess. Like how Jesse had died and why her brother and his friends had run off seemingly forever.

The idea they might return left Gem slightly on edge too. She hated Dominic Toretto and the two people who'd fled with him with a depth of feeling she'd never experienced before. She didn't know the whole story behind what had happened or why he'd left but she hated him anyway. She had never hated anyone in her life but she was sure she hated him. He'd left his little sister all alone with no one but a cranky, cantankerous drunk to care for her. Vince had his own issues and that was the only thing saving him from being filleted alive by the sharpest edge of her tongue.

"_And I'm breaking on a balcony. Breaking window panes. I'm killin' the pain of broken hearts. Walking on clouds, walking on stars_.

"_What if I fall? What if I don't? What if I never make it home? What if I bleed? What if I break? And I find that I can't take…"_

What if she fell? What if she was corrupted by the things she sensed Vince was into or had been into. What if she didn't, because the more she thought about it the more she thought perhaps she wanted to be corrupted, perhaps just a little at least? But what if either way the house, the citadel never became her home? What would happen? She might end up broken and hurting over things she had no control over. But perhaps the scariest thought of all was that she'd get her wish, become part of their family, become one of them, like them but that she wouldn't be able to handle what went on in the city below her citadel, in the house she found herself living in.

"_The city below the citadel, holding my own. I'm holding on to something, it's keeping me from jumping. I'm so afraid to go it alone. I'm holding up this fortress, with imaginary horses. Longing for a life down below_."

She had written the last verse over again only the night before, unable to get it right. What if she did find she couldn't take the life she was signing up for outside of her own room living with Mia? She felt like she was going it alone as the only sane one in her house but she felt herself longing to be one of the insane people. The way Mia and Vince fought made Gem wish she could yell and scream at both of them they were being juvenile. But she didn't yell, or scream. She stayed level headed through it all. She was again brought back to her thoughts that she might become part of their family and find out she couldn't handle the

"_What if fall? What if I don't? What if I never make it home? What if I bleed? What if I break, and I find that I can't take…The city below the citadel, holding my own, yeah. The city below the citadel, holding my own, yeah. The city below the citadel, holding my hand._"

There was no lingering note at the end of her song this time. The music died with her voice. Another glance at Vince assured her he still didn't seem to suspect a thing. He was unplugging the guitar from the club's amp, seemingly oblivious to the subtle undercurrents of her heartfelt song. She wasn't upset by this, far from it. She didn't know what she'd do if he ever figured it out.

They all walked off the stage after they received their round of applause. One thing was for sure, the audience sure received her songs better than they had her singing other peoples.

They gathered back together in the green room for a moment after the song. Gem saw Tamica first. The dark woman pulled her into a hug. "Girl, keep it up. If you keep pulling this sorta stuff outta your hat you might just have something with this whole band thing."

"I sure hope so." Gem looked around uncertainly. "I think I need to talk to someone about some things. Could we talk later?"

"Later, how later?"

"Later after a certain someone picks up his guitar case and goes to start tying one on."

"Sounds serious."

"You can't have a talk about guys without me." Elliot broke in. "You'll need a male perspective."

"As if you'd count." Tamica teased gently.

The door opened and Gem looked up, hoping it wasn't Vince. Her hope was in vain. "I've got to get back to work. I'll find you on my break, after you play your solo set, ok Tamica."

"Sure G. Find me back here when I'm finished."

Vince looked from one girl to the other. He could tell something was up but he wasn't sure he wanted to know what so he didn't say anything.

With a glance his way Gem escaped from the room, bass nestled in its case clutched to her chest.


	4. Bleed

AN: Another long chapter. I don't know if it's a bad thing or not but never the less this chapter is incredibly long. Not sure if I have anything else to add to that or not other than please review and thank you for the wonderful reviews I've already gotten. I'm so glad to know that Gem seems real to people. Hola from the land of Anne, Tempest.

**Catalyst**

By - _TempestRaces_

Chapter 4 – **Bleed**

Gem got back to work and watched for Tamica to go on stage. Once the dark woman had finished her song Gem informed Barry she was going on her break and headed back to the green room. She found Tamica and Elliott accompanied by Celeste.

"Tamica," Gem practically wailed. "What am I going to do?"

Celeste looked up in interest as Tamica shot Gem a warning glance. "Calm down G. Do about what?" Tamica cut her eyes to Celeste, trying to warn Gem about the blonde's big mouth.

Gem followed Tamica's gaze and calmed down slightly. She realized Celeste would be due on stage any second. "My car! It's on its last legs and I have no money."

"I'm sure your mechanic can fix it." Tamica said with a wink.

"Oh please." Celeste broke into the conversation as she snorted through her nose and somehow managed to have even that unladylike action come off as ultrafeminine. "I assume by 'her mechanic' you are referring to the tattooed guy who sits in that dark corner at the end of the bar every night?"

"What's it to you?" Tamica asked, her head moving from one side to the other to illustrate her pique.

"That guy isn't interested in _her_. I mean, look at him than look at her. What about her could possibly hold his interest? The shy little timid mouse does not attract the ferocious panther unless it's for a quick snack. Trust me, if that guy has any interest in her it's because he thinks she'd be easy enough to wow into a no strings attached night in bed."

"The fact she's smart and pretty and sings better than anyone we've had in here in the last few years got you nervous?" Elliott asked snidely, a quick glance at Gem telling him that Celeste's barbs had found their mark. Gem's face was quickly turning ashen white.

"She might sing better than you perhaps but I think better than _anyone_ else is a bit of an over statement. Don't you?" Celeste asked, cocking one perfectly arched brow.

"I know she sings better'n you. Writes better songs than you too. Don't be hatin' on her just because she writes all her own shit and has a guy who's eye you tried to catch for months interested in her," Tamica almost growled.

"Guys, there's no need to fight. V is my mechanic but it's not like I'm dating him." Gem protested quietly. Celeste's remarks had hurt her deeply but she tried not to let it show. After all, hadn't she reached the same conclusion herself?

"V?" Celeste's eyebrow-which had returned to its normal orientation on her face-was once again raised into her hairline. "Who's V?"

"Vince. We call him V. The guy in the dark corner." Gem clarified, wondering if Celeste was just being a jerk or if she'd honestly forgotten their conversation already.

"Who's we?" Celeste asked and if Gem didn't miss her guess she was mad about something.

"Mia and I. I've moved in with Mia and Vince as a boarder." Gem felt some of her good mood return when she got to rub Celeste's nose in the fact she might not be seeing Vince in a relationship sense but he certainly couldn't just sleep with her and never call. She knew where his room was.

"Really?" Celeste was clearly about to have something to say about that when the speaker blared to life and Nalia's voice came across calling Celeste onto the stage.

"I thought they'd never call her." Elliott sighed, flopping onto the couch in relief.

"No kiddin'." Tamica growled. She took a few deep breaths before she spoke again. "Now what did you need to talk to us about."

"Well," Gem started to pace agitatedly around the room. "There's this problem I think I'm going to be having soon."

"Lemme get this straight, you don't have a problem right now but you think you will soon?"

"I know it sounds crazy Tamica but listen. For years in 'Frisco I tried to write songs. I mean really tried. I couldn't write a single song worth playing, they all turned out horribly. Then I meet Vince and all of a sudden I can write songs that don't sound awful."

"So you got inspired by him. Big deal. Lots of people get inspired by different things Gem. It's not like you're the first."

What am I going to do if he figures it out?"

"Figures what out?"

"Damn Elliott, keep up or take notes! If he figures out he's not just a member of the band but the basis of the songs we're playing."

"Oh. _Oh._" Elliott said again once it really dawned on him what the issue was.

"Exactly! So what am I supposed to do here? Keep writing what's in my heart? Or stop writing songs so he doesn't figure out it's about him?"

"Or, as another option, what if you just told him it was about a long lost lover if he should ever ask?" Elliott sat deeper into the couch as he offered his solution, the burnt orange color tossing his electric blue button down shirt into stark relief and making his blue-black hair look even more mussed than it normally did.

"I don't know if I lie that well." Gem said as a pinched look of worry crossed her face.

"Sure you do. Or at least you can if you need to." Tamica paused to think before meeting Gem's eyes again and carrying on. "Gem, you have a talent but it's not that clear to see when you're singing insipid songs that some pop idol made in a studio sang first. You shine when you sing your own stuff. You have something, this like inner glow that turns you into someone else when you're on stage. You do tend to be shy when you're waiting on people but the second those stage lights hit you and you have your own stuff to sing that falls off you and it's like you're someone else. You're golden when you do your own thing, I mean, you're golden with our help," Elliott nodded his agreement with Tamica's words, "but if you stop writing then that all goes away again. You can't sing Break Away for the rest of your life."

"I know that," Gem fought tears just thinking about the whole situation, "but what would I do if he ever figured it out? I mean, both of my songs so far were so personal. I think I'd die of embarrassment if he figured out I was singing about him."

"You like this guy." Elliott said as a smile spread across his face. "You like him but you don't want him to know. He is cute, in a rugged sort of way."

"You like him?" Tamica looked at Gem in shock. "You like the Corona guy?" She asked in disbelief.

"Well, so what if that's true. Celeste is right, it's not like he'd ever be interested in me that way so why should I get my hopes up? I'm nothing to him but an excuse why he never comes home."

"Come again?" Tamica asked.

"Now that I live there he doesn't have to feel guilty about leaving his friend Mia home alone all the time. Listen, it's a long story but trust me when I say any feelings are totally one sided and not even appreciated." Gem continued to pace, adding agitated hand motions to the mix. "Guys, this guy has _a lot_ of baggage. I don't want to get into it, even if I do like him."

"Then you really shouldn't have moved into his house." Elliott said, sounding like he was pointing out something very obvious to someone who should have known it already.

"It's not his house. It's Mia's. Vince just lives there with her. I didn't move in there for Vince, I did it for Mia."

"Do we get to meet Mia?"

"This isn't exactly her scene. I might invite her some Thursday but I don't think she'd enjoy it."

"Gem, stop worrying about this." Tamica crossed to Gem and forcefully stopped her pacing by taking hold of Gem's shoulders. "If he figures it out-and that's a big if, he doesn't hit me as exactly the sharpest tool in the shed-than you'll just deny it or lie about it, or admit you have feelings for him but they're feelings you aren't interested in pursuing. You are too good at this to just give it up over some guy you may or may not like who may or may not ever realize it."

Gem forced out a huge breath. "You're right. If he figures it out then he does. It's not worth throwing away my dream over." Gem turned toward the door. "I should really get back to work before Celeste is done of her song."

"Ok. You know, we should think about getting together to practise ahead of time this week."

"Elliott, that would only work if I had the song ready more than a few hours before we went on stage." Gem smiled.

"I guess so." Elliot laughed.

"Talk to you guys later either way. Sometime Mia and I will have to have you over to the house for dinner or something and you can meet her that way."

"That'd be nice." Tamica waved as Gem left the room and got back to work. She waited a few tables before she just got Vince a Corona and headed his way. She never knew from one hour to the next what mood she'd find him in.

She set the beer on the table in front of him and turned to walk away.

Vince wasn't happy about what he was about to do but he didn't see any other way around it. "Gem?" He called. He was going to have to ask her what the song had meant. He'd been trying to puzzle it out since they'd left the stage but he hadn't made any headway.

"Um?" She asked as she turned back to him, a smile fixed on her face. The constant good mood.

"That song you wrote? What's it mean?"

"What do you mean what does it mean?"

"Well, what's a citadel? I thought it was a big fancy church but that doesn't make sense."

"It can be a church but another way to think of it is like a stronghold or safe place." Gem really didn't want to elaborate any farther.

"So it's like the world outside the safe place. That was what you were talking about?"

"Yeah, that's exactly it. Just about the uncomfortableness of going outside the places we're used to. We all have a part of us scared to jump into the outside world, no matter how much the rest of us wants to take the plunge."

"I guess I see." Vince answered, but he wasn't sure he understood at all. There was more to the story, there was something he was missing, but it didn't seem like Gem wanted to fill him in. He did see where she was coming from. He was scared to admit he was afraid to start fully living again so he just didn't. In her case he figured she was just uncomfortable talking about her songs, which she readily admitted were very personal to her. "Anyway, I was thinking." Vince looked up at Gem.

Gem couldn't ignore the opportunity. "Is that where the smoke came from?"

"Ha ha. Seriously, you know, it really doesn't make sense for us to both drive here every day. You should just start riding with me."

"Thanks for the offer but I like driving myself to work at night. I like to take the time to chill out and listen to my stereo."

"Your car would last longer if you drove it less."

"Maybe, but why have it last longer just to not use it? Seems to defeat the purpose if you ask me. Besides, I normally leave much earlier than you."

"I could leave earlier than I do."

"I really appreciate you offering, and the fact you're concerned for me but I'll be ok. I'll replace the car as soon as I save enough money so that I won't have a payment for the new one and until then the Honda will be ok."

"Suit yourself." Vince threw his hands up. He'd tried. It wasn't like he could force her to ride with him instead of taking a chance on her car breaking down every day.

"I'll see you later." Gem told him as she walked away. Inside she was shaking. He'd come so close to guessing her secret. This game was starting to have higher stakes than she'd ever guessed it would.

"We're heading out girl." Tamica called to Gem from where she and Elliott were getting ready to leave the bar.

"Ok, see you later." Gem called back with a wave. "I'll call you later, maybe early next week."

"Ok." With a final wave Elliott and Tamica left the bar.

"You did good tonight girl." Barbara said to Gem as both women took a quick breather at the side of the bar.

"Thanks. It felt better this week too."

"So, how's the new living situation working out?"

Gem scrunched her face up as she thought a moment. "Good." She looked at Barbara thoughtfully. "I have a problem though."

"What's that?"

"The girl I live with, Mia, she use to be in UCLA and I guess she was really smart."

"What happened that she's not in college anymore?"

"She had some trouble last summer and had to drop out. But I want her to go back. The only way she could do that would be if she had someone to cover her hours at the café she owns while she was in school. If I covered the café for her while she was in class I couldn't work here until two every night. I'd have to leave at twelve every night but Friday and Saturday. Do you think Barry would let me change my hours like that? It wouldn't need to be until September when the next semester starts."

"Maybe. The weekdays aren't so bad. It's Thursday, Friday and Saturday we really need you here right until close for. You'd have to ask him. What was Mia studying?"

"She was premed but I don't know if she wants to go back to that same thing. I just know she's really smart and she should have some schooling, not just run a dinky little store making sandwiches for the rest of her life."

"Look who's talking." Barbara teased. Gem's steadfast refusal to go to class and try to get a better job than working for Barry had become a sore spot over the last few days between them.

"I can't learn music at College. Well, I guess I can, but not the kind I want to be involved in. I'll be ok. With Tamica and Elliott I think we can do great things."

"What about your guitarist?"

"Him I think we'll have to replace if it goes beyond the Thursdays here. He doesn't seem overly interested in playing for me beyond the recreational times here."

"But he's so good at it."

"Yeah, but it's not what he really does."

"How's it going, living with him I mean?"

"I never see him so fine I guess. Living with Mia is way better than living where I was."

"No kidding. So he doesn't hassle you or anything? You think you're safe there?"

"Safe as money in fort Knox." Gem said with a face like she'd sucked on a lemon. She found herself wishing she wasn't safe from his non-existent advances. She wished she had some advances to be not safe from.

"Girls," Barry cut into their conversation before Barbara could answer, "a few tables are looking around for a waitress."

Point taken, both women headed back out into the crowd.

At the end of the night as Gem walked into the parking lot she was surprised to find Vince's blue car was already gone. This was strange because he'd gotten into the habit of waiting for her to leave first. He said he just wanted to make sure her car started and it was a likely story as he always passed her the first chance he got with a smirk and a little wave. He knew she couldn't catch up or keep up so he always beat her home. He would have retreated to his basement domain long before she ever made it home.

With a shrug she started her car and was glad it turned over on the first try. He must have had something else he had to do. As always the emotion of her Thursday night performance had left Gem physically exhausted and emotionally drained. She only wanted one thing; her bed. She pushed her car as fast as she dared in her quest to get home. She turned her stereo up a bit louder than she normally would have in the hopes the loud sounds would keep her coherent until she reached the house.

Her loud music and her barely awake mindset made her wonder just how long those twirling red and blue lights had been in her rear-view mirror before she noticed when she looked up a few minutes after the last time she'd checked her mirror.

"Isn't this just great." She sighed as she signalled and pulled off the side of the road, shutting her car down but locking all her doors. She'd heard stories about stolen police cars and until she saw a badge and uniform she wasn't so much as rolling down her window. When a flashlight illuminated her cabin and the blue uniform of the man at her window she rolled it down a piece.

"Do you know why I stopped you miss?" The officer asked.

"Well, I'm sure I wasn't speeding officer. This car doesn't go over the speed limit even if I wanted it to, which I didn't." Gem had a bad habit of over explaining things when she was nervous. She tried to curb it as she snapped her mouth shut. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before she spoke again. "I guess I'm not totally sure why you stopped me officer."

"You have a tail light out. It was hard to tell you had one out through the haze your car was leaving behind you but you do have a tail light out. When is this car due to be smog checked again miss?"

"In about three months sir." Gem sighed. This was just what she needed. "Do you need to see my licence and registration?"

"Why? Is the car stolen?"

Gem only had her fatigue to blame for what left her mouth next. "If I was going to steal a car it wouldn't be an oil burning, fifteen year old compact." She caught the look the cop gave her. "No sir, it's not stolen."

"Unless you want a ticket I think you should hold onto your paperwork. Miss, if you get caught at any roadside checks you will get a large fine for this car. It's not legal to drive a car this badly out of tune. Get it taken care of."

"Yes officer. I appreciate it."

The cop walked back to his car as Gem sat for a moment, trying to get her heart beat back to a normal pace. She respected law enforcement and was normally totally law abiding. It wasn't that she had any reason to be scared of police officers but they still made her nervous. She looked in her rear view to find the officer still sitting there behind her. She realized he was waiting for her to get back on her way.

She signalled and pulled out carefully and watched gratefully as the cop pulled a u-turn and headed back toward Canoga Park. Gem finished her trip home to Echo Park watching over her shoulder for more cops the whole way.

When she pulled up to the house to find both Mia and Vince's cars at home and every light in the place on she knew she wasn't in for the nice, quiet trip straight to bed she'd been hoping for. Every light in the place on meant Mia and Vince were at it again. After her tiring night and stressful drive home the last thing she needed was to play referee to another one of their fights.

She used her key to unlock the front door with a sigh, her bass clutched to her chest like a shield. It was a protective gesture she wasn't even aware she made. She started for the stairs quietly, intent on simply making it to her own room and putting her head phones on to drown them out.

"Well, if you weren't such a nosey fuckin' bitch than we wouldn't be having this problem."

As the sound of Mia's crying reached her ears Gem started back down the stairs and leaned her case against the wall at the small landing a few stairs up which allowed the stairs to turn the corner to the ground floor. She grimaced tiredly. So much for her retreat to her room. She really didn't want to get involved but she knew she had no choice.

She'd just be up all night feeling guilty about leaving Mia alone after being called such horrible names. She reached the door of the kitchen and paused to take in the scene. There were a few broken dishes scattered around and if Gem could believe her eyes Vince was bleeding out of a cut on his cheek, arguably from where one of the shattered mugs had either hit him before breaking or from shrapnel from the fallout. Mia was standing in front of the sink, gripping the edge so hard her knuckles were white and she was softly crying.

Mia was always softly crying. And Vince was always standing somewhere looking self righteous yelling at her. It was just status quo for their fights.

"And if my brother was here you wouldn't get away with talking to me like that!" Mia screamed back. "Dom would kick your," Mia paused a moment, as though gathering her courage, "fuckin ass for talking to me like that!"

"Yeah, so what?" Vince shouted back with a sneer. "Your fuckin coward brother ain't never comin back or he woulda been here by now. But he's still gone, runnin' away from problems that are all his goddamn fault, so he ain't never gonna be savin' your ass when you run that goddamn mouth anymore!"

Mia's crying intensified as Gem wondered what Mia had brought up to set the volatile Vince off this time. This was bad, even for them. Vince continued.

"Just like he wasn't here when we fuckin' buried Jess. Just like he wasn't fuckin' here when someone had to listen to you cry over that stupid fuckin' blond cop never comin' back. Just like he wasn't here when someone had to start running the damn garage again, had to start payin' the damn bills and mortgage again."

"Yeah, well at least Brian really loved _me. _He wasn't just trying to get with me because he wanted to look better to my brother."

Vince reeled in shock for a moment before his face turned even more twisted with rage and he looked like he was going to physically go at Mia. Gem knew if she was going to intervene it was now or never.

"Guys! It's too late at night for this kind of thing. Why don't both of you just go to bed and try to settle this rationally tomorrow?" _When you're _both_ sober_.

"There is no rational with him!" Mia shrieked with her finger aimed squarely at Vince.

Gem was mostly inclined to agree but coming out with that in the middle of their fight wasn't going to help anything.

"Oh here we fuckin' go! The goddamn voice of fuckin' reason herself. If you weren't such a fuckin' ice princess you might realize that sometimes people fight. There isn't a good, rational reason for every fuckin' thing."

Gem took a deep breath and started counting to ten. _I'm not going to stoop to his level, I'm not going to stoop to his level. You can deal with the hurt from what he said when you're safely in bed late. He's too drunk to know what he's saying anyway. _ When she reached ten she looked up again. When her eyes met his and she saw that _smug_ look on his face, the look that meant he was sure he had gotten one over on her she felt something inside her snap. What was it she'd thought she wanted when she had been writing Citadel? To be less calm and collected? To live more like them, with feelings on the surface for all to see? _Be careful what you wish for._

"And if you weren't such a jerk there wouldn't be so many fights! Don't you know you can't talk to her like that?" Gem sassed back to Vince, her voice raised above her normal octave for the first time she could remember in a long time. The stress left over from her traffic stop blended with her anger over Vince talking to Mia like she was another one of his rough mechanic friends just set her off. She started across the room to Mia's side.

"Jerk?" Vince muttered to himself, looking at the ground. He looked up at Gem, his eyes snapping fire. "I'm a jerk for working my ass off every day to keep her brother's stupid garage alive and makin money just to hear this shit at home every night?"

"Dominic was like your brother too and you know it!" Mia screamed back. When she realized she'd said _was,_ like her brother was dead and gone it was like it finally clicked in her mind that Dominic likely wasn't ever coming home again, just like Jesse and her parents weren't ever coming back either. Her sobbing took on an almost hysterical tone.

"Now look what you did you big stupid," Gem paused, trying to think up the right word to express how mad she was with Vince, "bastard!" The curse word felt almost cathartic to say. "She knows her brother isn't likely ever coming home again! Do you have to throw it in her damn face all the time? She's already lost everyone else she ever held dear but you from her life and you throw it in her face every chance you get. Just because you aren't happy doesn't give you the right to take it out on the rest of the world!"

Vince looked at Gem in shock for a moment before he could think of something to say back to her. In his experience the meaner he got the nicer Gem got. He didn't know if he'd ever heard her swear before. "What do you know about it anyway? You have your whole family just waiting on you back home. You can turn tail and run home to them any time you want! This is real life to us and to you it's just a game to play while you try to make it as a singer. Good fuckin' luck."

"I know I watched my grandfather attempt to drink himself to death as a child and I know I watched my father give up his dreams so that he could have enough money to raise his three kids in the way he thought we should be raised. At least my grandfather eventually got the courage to admit he had a problem and got himself some help so he could stop taking his issues out on everyone but himself. He didn't live the rest of his life in a drunken stupor."

"I don't have a problem!"

"Sure you don't." Gem sneered back at Vince and took Mia's hands off the edge of the sink, rubbing them both between her own to try and bring some warmth back into them. She could feel Mia shaking down the length of her arms. "At least Mia's trying to get on with her life. She's going back to school and getting back to reality." Mia looked up in shock. Going back to school was something she and Gem had talked about but Mia was fairly sure she'd told Gem it wasn't feasible at this point of her life. "Meanwhile you're content to live in some sort of drunken dreamland where you're some sort of martyr because you get up and go to work every day even though you spent all night getting loaded in some club."

"Like it's any of your fuckin' business." Vince roared.

"You made it my business when you basically hired me to live here to take care of things because you couldn't be arsed to bother." Gem roared back. "I don't know why you still live here anyway. You clearly don't care about anything that goes on here and don't really want to know anything about it either."

"Well maybe I'll just fuckin' move out then!"

"Maybe you should!" Mia roared back.

Gem looked from one to the other in shock. She knew they fought a lot but they were still really all the other had.

"I'll leave you here all alone with the future American Idol herself who can only play the stupid bar she works at and certainly isn't getting discovered for her first album there. I'm sure the two of you will be very happy together, each of you growing old alone with your broken dreams for company." Vince turned to leave the room, to head to the basement stairs.

Mia gasped in the shock of Vince's parting barb but Gem didn't stop there. She picked up a mug off the draining board and heaved it at the back of Vince's retreating head. Thankfully she'd never had great aim and she missed; the mug shattering off the door frame beside Vince's head instead of shattering on the back of his skull. Mia looked at Gem in shock, a panicked look on her face as she worried about what Vince would do now.

Gem had some concerns on that front herself. What had gotten into her? She never acted this way, all wild and out of control. Her life was based on being calm in the face of anger. When patrons got mad at the restaurant she couldn't get mad back. She couldn't throw their dishes at them. She had to respond in a rational, calm manner. So why was she now reacting with unbridled passion? The bigger question was what was volatile Vince going to do about it.

Vince turned slowly back to face the two women he'd left behind him a moment earlier, trembling with rage barely in check. Which one had thrown the cup at his head? Up until two minutes ago it wouldn't have been a question, it would have been Mia. But now he wasn't so sure. When he turned around to find Mia looking at Gem in panic and Gem looking at him with her chest heaving with her laboured breathing, a mix of fear and vindication in her eyes he knew he'd found the culprit. He felt his shoulders sag as he realized he was the bastard in the situation after throwing both of their most treasured dreams in their faces.

"Mia, go to bed." Vince said, trying to sound calm and gentle so she'd listen.

"I'm not leaving her alone with _you_."

"It'll be ok Mia, go to bed." He tried again.

"Will you be ok?" Mia asked Gem softly. It was her turn to look concerned for her friend and Vince realized whatever his reason for asking Gem to move in with them she and Mia had become friends. It wouldn't be him Mia looked to for support or comfort anymore and he had only himself to blame.

"I'll be fine because I'll be right behind you. I'm tired, I'm stressed and I'm not in the mood."

"Ok."

He watched as Mia hugged Gem and the taller woman hugged Mia back. Gem watched Mia leave until she was out of sight up the stairs before she turned back to him. "What?"

Vince sat at the table and hung his head. "Sit."

"I don't have to take your orders. Much as you might think I'm like your employee I'm not." Gem's chin went up and her eyes were still snapping blue fire his way.

"Would you please take a seat?"

She crossed to the table and sat with a mutinous look on her face, taking the chair farthest away from him for her own as she sat with a thump. "What?"

"I had no right to say what I said to you."

"And? You going to tell me something I don't know?"

_She isn't going to make this easy_, Vince thought as he sighed. "And I'm glad you're here for Mia and I'm sorry we fight so much and that you had to get involved."

"You are such a selfish bastard."

Vince looked up at Gem in shock when her vehement statement left her mouth and lingered around his head. He was trying to make things better and she was still calling him names?

"What?" He asked, his voice starting to rise again.

"After all the horrible things you said to me, and god only knows what to Mia before I ever got home to hear it your response is that you had no right to say what you did and you're sorry I had to hear the fight? How about sorry for your part of bringing it on and trying not to do it anymore? But that'd be too much to ask because you might have to grow up and act like an adult at least some of the time. You must know you have something to be sorry for because here we are but you're still not ready or willing to own up to your responsibility in the whole situation. Even your apology has this sort of forced air to it, like you really don't want to make it, really aren't sorry at all, but you know you have to say something because it's expected of you."

Vince opened his mouth to reply to her but she carried on before he could get a chance.

"You know, I'm sorry that I'm too controlled for your liking but at least I don't go around the world breaking the hearts of everyone who loves me and thinking I have the right to take out my bad moods on everyone else around me instead of looking inside me for the causes and solutions. You know, the one thing I ever did that hurt my family was take off on them and come to L.A. to follow my dream instead of following their dream for me and even then I accepted the blame for how that made them feel onto my own shoulders because it was something I felt I had to do for me. I hurt their feelings by leaving home but it was something I had to do for me. I really don't appreciate you throwing something I felt so strongly over that I broke my mother's heart for it in my face. Now I think I'll go to bed because I had a long night and I'm about to totally lose my patience. I suggest you do the same thing because you clearly need to go sleep it off."

Vince watched as Gem stood up so forcefully her chair fell backwards and hit the floor with a crash. She didn't even stop to right it, just walked past it. He heard the stairs creak under her progress a few seconds later. So the ice princess was back in words but the spitting virago who'd thrown a cup at his head was still firmly entrenched on the inside. _You really made a mess this time_.

When Gem got upstairs she checked on Mia and was glad to find her friend fast asleep, her form totally buried under her blankets. She headed to her own room, intent on crashing into bed and sleeping until his words didn't hurt anymore. After half an hour tossing and turning she was sure she wasn't getting to sleep any time soon. She got out of bed with a weary sigh and headed for the room Mia had dubbed her 'music room'. She kept her guitars in the room and there was a desk for her to sit at when she wanted to write.

She sat at her desk and picked up her poor acoustic guitar. "_And I find that I can't take the city below the citadel holding my own." _She sang as she clumsily played the chords to accompany the words even as the carefully arranged notes began to blur together on the lined paper.

As the tears ran down her cheeks she realized she couldn't remember the last time anything had made her cry. She'd come close a few times lately, like the time Mia had been telling her a story. She'd been driving down the street and she'd passed another car and the guy driving it had looked like the cop named Brian she'd fallen so hard for and she'd thought it was him so surely she'd pulled a u-turn and followed the other car until it had stopped and the driver had gotten out but it hadn't been Brian at all. So Mia had spent the next hour sitting in her car on the side of the road crying.

"I tried so hard to forget he was alive!" Mia had sobbed as she recounted the story, "But then I thought he was right there and everything came right back to me but it wasn't him at all. I thought I'd get a chance to tell him all the things I never got to. How I didn't blame him for what happened, not really, and how grateful I was for what he did. Both for Dominic and for Vince. And when that stranger went by and I realized I still wasn't going to get to tell him I just broke down."

_What did you get yourself into Gem_? She asked herself as she sat, playing idle chords on her guitar as she slumped over it crying. She'd almost beaned a man off his head with an earthenware mug! That wasn't her.

With a sniffle she leaned over her instrument to her desk and picked up her pen.

About an hour after the girls had made their retreats up the stairs Vince was still awake pacing in his rooms. _Damn her for making me think about this shit anyway_, he grumbled in his head as he thought about all the uncomfortable things Gem had made him think about. It was hard to pretend it was ok you acted like an asshole sometimes but made up for it with how hard you worked when someone threw all the asshole things you did in your face and told you point blank you weren't making up for anything. Made you feel like what you did wasn't nearly enough.

How dare she anyway? What did she know about it? Mother and father still together and running their place a few hours out of town. Two brothers studying for real jobs, the kind of jobs that had some respect in the community. What did she know about growing up in a single parent home and watching your best friend lose everything he ever held dear? How dare she call him down? He did a lot for Mia, more than a lot of guys likely would have after how bad her cowardly brother screwed him after all their years as friends.

If Gem hadn't butted in Mia would have cried herself to sleep but she would have gotten over it and he would have made himself feel better by reminding himself that he was running her brother's garage and keeping her in her brother's house and doing it all even though he really didn't want to, wanted nothing more than to take off and start over someplace else.

With another muttered curse to join the string of them he'd been letting loose since he'd taken refuge in the basement he made up his mind. She wasn't going to get away with talking to him like he was some worthless jerk-off. He was going to go give her a piece of his mind. So what if he'd have to wake her up. He couldn't get any sleep, why should she? It was her fault he was feeling too shitty to sleep.

He stomped up the basement stairs in a huff. The wrecked state of the kitchen gave him pause. He took in the broken crockery and dented area of the kitchen wall. Then he noticed the droplets of blood on the floor where he'd been standing and reached up to touch his cheek. He felt the crusty blood on his cheekbone. _Forgot she grazed me. _Next he spotted the scratched section of the door moulding where Gem's missile had hit home.

"She tried to hit me with a fuckin' coffee mug." He muttered to himself as he took in the carnage in Mia's kitchen. He noticed the over turned chair. "She called me a selfish bastard."

He stalked through the dining room and living room to the bottom of the stairs. He started up the stairs determinedly, figuring he'd check in on Mia and then give Gem a piece of his mind. He walked up to Mia's door and pushed it open softly. She was nothing but a small pile of blankets in the center of her bed. She wasn't making any noise so he closed the door over again, careful not to make a sound. If she was quiet she was sleeping. When she woke up she'd see things differently and she'd get over it. She always did.

Next he moved to the door of the room he still considered Dominic's. He could feel adrenaline start to course through him in preparation for the fight he felt coming on with Gem. He pushed the door open forcefully and let it bounce off the wall behind it with a crash. _Shit, I'll wake Mia_. He took a step into the room and looked around, wondering why Gem wasn't screaming at him for busting into her room yet. That was about when he realized the bed was mussed but unoccupied. Gem was not in her room. He backed out of the room and started back down the hall, most of his anger leaving him when he started to think she might be out in the middle of the night all alone, hurting over what he'd said to her in a car that might break down at any time with no one knowing where she was.

On his way past what even he now thought of as the music room he realized there was soft light coming out from under the door. He pushed it open a crack and peeked in. What he saw solidified the fact in his mind that at least tonight he had been every last thing Gem accused him of being. He'd been a total bastard jerk.

She was sitting in the chair they'd put in front of her desk, her crappy guitar cradled in her arms as she was curled up around it, crying softly yet brokenly into her hands, her hair forming a shield all around her bent shoulders as the lone lamp sent a soft light floating around her, picking up the red highlights in her dark blond hair. He could see her notebook was open on the table in front of her, a pen lying across the page discarded.

_I did this_.

He walked into the room silently and stood behind her chair, not sure what to do. He was use to Mia crying. Mia cried when she was happy, when she was sad, when she was angry, when she was afraid. It was like Mia cried over everything. Gem never cried. If she'd ever cried before he'd never found out or heard her. Knowing that made it even worse for him to know he was the reason behind her crying now.

He reached out and gathered her hair back out of her face softly. She jumped in her chair and looked up at him over her shoulder, anger replacing sadness in her eyes in a split second.

"What the hell are you-"

"Shush, let me explain. I'm sorry."

"You said that already."

"I know, but you were right. I didn't really mean it then. I do now. I had some time to think about what you said and you were right. I do take my moods out on you guys and the rest of the world." He leaned over and took the guitar out of her arms. "I should take that thing and burn it. It has no business being used as a musical instrument." He watched as Gem's arms wrapped around herself when they were deprived of her guitar. She was always clutching an instrument to her chest, like she was trying to hide behind them.

When the revelation became obvious he wanted to slap his forehead with his palm. _You are such a moron! _Music was like her shield, her security blanket, something for her to hide behind and take refuge with and he'd thrown it right into her face.

He sighed. This wasn't going according to plan at all.

_Like you ever had a plan_.

He pulled her chair back farther from the desk and crossed around to the front of her, kneeling at her feet. "I'm sorry for what I said. I had no call and I'm glad that Mia is going back to school."

Even knowing first hand that apologizing wasn't something Vince did much of Gem wasn't ready to let him off the hook. She was still upset and incredibly hurt that he'd thrown her music at her like he had, tried to imply she was wasting her time and wouldn't ever be good enough to make it. Her gaze remained firmly fixed on her own knees as she refused to see him kneeling at her feet. She knew what seeing such a proud man humbled on his knees over her would do to her anger and she wasn't ready to let it go yet.

Vince was floundering in the unfamiliar situation. He never apologised to Mia, he just went to bed when she went to bed and by the next morning neither of them wanted to talk about what had happened any more. That was how he liked it and he assumed Mia felt the same way. He'd said he was sorry two more times, what more did she want? Blood? He'd given it already; it was splattered all over the kitchen floor. How could he make her see why he was the way he was? As he watched another tear hit her knees, rolling off her cheek he knew he had to find some way. Otherwise she was going to leave and Mia would kill him. Truth told he'd kill himself. If it wasn't for Gem he wouldn't even be feeling what he was now. Feeling anger and upset was still feeling something and that was beyond what he had been doing up until three weeks ago. He took both her hands into his with uncertainty, not sure how she'd react. Her hands were so small compared to his own that he felt even worse. The old adage to pick on someone your own size sure hadn't been playing a big role in his life lately. She looked at him, her eyes wide and hurt, rimmed in a red that made their aquamarine colour jump out startlingly.

Her hands were freezing. "I mean it. I really am sorry, ok. It's just that this isn't where I saw myself at twenty five. This isn't how my life was supposed to end up and sometimes thinking about how it all ended up gets me down."

Gem sniffled before she spoke. "I'm sorry for saying this but you have no one to blame but yourself if you're not happy with how your life turned out. If you don't like it than you're the only one who has the power to change it."

She didn't take her hands back, one good sign he was sure. Her words rang true, but everything wasn't as cut and dry as she thought. Everything hadn't happened over a few bad choices on his part. "Listen, there's a lot to this story you don't know." And suddenly he had a desire to fill her in. "Can we take that drive I promised you?"

"Now? It's three thirty in the morning."

"I know but I'm not going to sleep any time soon and I'd really like to talk about some of this with someone. If you weren't headed to turn in right away." Vince looked away, giving her the chance to decline, to tell him with her refusal he wasn't worth hearing out. It was no less than he deserved.

"Just let me go change." Gem said with a sigh as she started to stand up. She wasn't going to bed any time soon herself and she knew she honestly would like some insight into what made Vince into what he was.

"No need. No one's going to see us. I'm not changing."

"You're going outside in your shorts?" Gem blushed a faint pink at the thought of leaving the house in her underwear like Vince was planning.

"Why not? It's only gonna be you'n my car to see me. Like you said, it's three thirty. No one's out and about at this hour. Come on, haven't you ever done anything spontaneous before?"

"I moved into the house of two virtual strangers one day." Gem quipped back.

"That doesn't count. You already knew me'n Mia as well as you needed to at the time. You knew we weren't serial killers. Come on, live a little. Besides, if I think about this too much I'll end up not wanting to go anywhere. I'm not the talkin' type."

"Isn't that the truth." Gem answered with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she watched Vince be playful with her. _Mood swings like a pregnant woman_. "I'll go on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Either we play my CD or we play the satellite radio service. I can't take any more of the metal stuff that you play in your car."

"Ok, deal. You are officially the DJ for tonight and tonight only just because it's your ride after all. Come on." Using her hands which he still had a hold of he tugged her out of her chair and keeping hold of one of her hands led her down the stairs and out the door. He even opened the car door for her and helped her in. He crossed to the driver's side door and slid into the car.

After starting it and backing down the driveway he tore off down the street. "I told you I'd show you what she was really capable of and the early morning is the only good time for that anyway."

Gem held onto the door handle as though it was her sanity. The car was hurling through the night like a rocket ship, the lights along the road blurring together and making her feel like she was suffering from tunnel vision. She momentarily thought she was going to be sick. "I think I was wrong when I said I thought I'd like this."

"Just relax. I know what I'm doing and you're not gonna get hurt. I wouldn't take stupid risks with my car, at least not with you in here."

Gem tried to calm down. She sat back and let go of the door handle, closing her eyes. "Can we open the sunroof?" There wasn't a reply but a few seconds later the cool night air was blowing around the cabin of the car, running gentle fingers through her loose hair. Her Toni Braxton CD was playing softly in the background. She let her mind go and it felt like she was flying. She opened her eyes and watched the stars through the opening in the roof. It was like no matter how fast they were going on earth the stars remained constant in the sky.

"You doin ok?"

"Mmmm." She murmured back. Once she grew accustomed to the speed the hum of the tires against the tarmac and the thrum of the loaded engine actually became relaxing as she reclined in the seat, the melodic sounds of 'Spanish Guitar' drifting around them as the air flowing in turned slightly tangy. "Where are we?" She asked, her voice a sleepy whisper.

"Almost where we're going."

"Which is?"

"You'll see."

With a shrug Gem closed her eyes again. Some part of her was mad at the rest of her for letting Vince off so easy. It was just that he was so hard to deny when he smiled at her with that look on his face, with those eyes, that shaggy haircut, that scruffy beard, all while wearing his boxer shorts and a white undershirt. He was the type of guy she never knew she liked but once she'd been introduced she realized what she'd been missing out on. Too bad he was so totally messed up mentally, she thought dejectedly.

"Ok, we're here." The car lurched slightly as he tossed it in first and pulled up on the parking brake.

"We're where?" Gem asked as she tried to wake up enough to keep up with where they were and why.

"This little spot Mia thinks she has a monopoly on but we all really know about." Vince opened his door and started around to hers. She sat up and looked around. They were at a little deserted beach. Vince opened her door and helped her out of the car. She went with him almost reluctantly.

"You said no one was going to see us."

"On an out of the way beach at this hour of Friday morning I still think that's a fair assessment." Vince opened the trunk and pulled a blanket out. He started down onto the beach proper and spread the blanket before sitting on it. "Come on. I swear I won't bite, or act like a jackass any more tonight." As he watched Gem cross to his blanket, dragging her flip flop clad feet through the sand he fought another wave of guilt over making her scared of him. She sat on the other side of the blanket and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her knees on them as she looked out over the water.

"So what did you want to tell me?"

"Things." Vince coughed nervously. Could he do this? He was giving her the ability to sell him up the river. After such a short time knowing her could he really trust her with his life? _She already trusted you with hers when she moved into your house and let you tear off with her in the car, _a voice answered back. "Ok, here goes.

"Around August of last year the biggest racing meet of the year was going on. We call it race wars and people come from hundreds of miles away to compete there in the desert every year. We always went, Dom always cleaned up and the rest of us always showed well."

"You mean like drag racing?"

"Sorta. Like import racing, like street racing, but not on the streets. There were big cash prizes, all the good parts companies sent representation, it was how we drummed up a lot of business for the shop. But the thing was the shop wasn't doing so great last year."

"So you hoped to change that with this race wars thing?"

"No, we found another way to make money long before race wars ever started. We got involved with a small branch of organized crime, stealing transfer trucks full of electronic merchandize."

"Come again?" Gem turned her head to look at Vince.

"Yeah. We started hijacking the trucks as they were moving the goods from the depot to whatever store they were destined for. DVD players, TV's, computers, the whole bit. We had a contact that told Dom which trucks to go after and we had three cars all set up for the jobs. We'd hunt the truck down, surround him and then I'd repel into the cab after I smashed the window out.

"The first five or six went textbook. We were finally making the money we needed to build all the cars the way we wanted them. We were good, no one could catch us. We were foolproof. Or so we thought.

"Then this Brian Spilner guy started hanging around Mia. I always knew he was bad news but Dom liked the guy and what Dom said went as far as that went. If Dom wanted the guy around than I had no say over whether he'd be around or not. I told Dom the fucker was a cop like a hundred times but he never listened to me."

Gem gave up on her scrunched up position and lay back on the blanket, staring up at the stars. This wasn't going to be over any time soon. Not a tale of this much time and history.

"Brian was a cop, I know that much already. Poor Mia, falling in love with a man who wasn't even real."

"Poor Mia! How about poor the rest of us?" Vince growled.

"Poor the rest of you were working for the mafia or mob or whatever else they call themselves these days. Mia didn't ask for Brian to use her to get close to her brother like he did. She didn't ask for any of it. But she still ended up falling for Brian Spilner when he wasn't even real, and getting her heart broken over something that really didn't involve her. She was just a pawn between Brian and his goal of getting close to Dominic."

"Mia knew where the money was coming from."

"Maybe so but knowing about something and being party to it are two different things. From what I've been told about this Dominic guy he wouldn't have stopped what he was doing just because his little sister didn't like it. What was she supposed to do? Move away from everyone she knew and loved in protest?"

"Ok already. Do you want to hear the rest of this story or not?"

"I'm just here for the ride remember? I'll listen if you want to tell me but I'm not forcing you to do anything." She wasn't going to have him say she gave him no choice and he'd told her everything against his will.

"Ok, so Brian tricked Dom into letting him get closer to us all." Vince stopped. There was no sense telling ancient history with a spin on it to make him look better. It was over, it was done with, and there wasn't any point in lying about it now. At least, not to her. "Ok, in all honesty Dom liked Brian and Brian liked Dominic. Brian ended up taking Dom's side for some fuckin' reason and let him go. But there's a whole lot that happened in between." Vince launched into his story, starting with the night Brian brought Dom home from races and finishing on the night of race wars.

"This is where the story gets pretty nasty. You sure you wanna hear it all?"

She wasn't sure she wanted to hear anything else to make her feel any sorrier for Vince and the rest of his 'team'. Her ability to hang onto her anger with him was rapidly disappearing. But perhaps he needed to tell someone. Mia was there so he couldn't tell her. She was still dealing with her own issues over the whole thing. "I'm sure." Gem shifted on the blanket, rolling onto her side and cupping her cheek in her hand, wiggling her hip until it carved out a hollow place in the sand under her.

"We had a job that night. Jesse was still missing from his race against Tran. Dom wanted to go and do the job anyway. It was a big money load and he'd been watching it and waiting for it for three months. Not even the fact we couldn't find Jesse wasn't going to stop him from chasing after that stupid truck." Vince caught the little secret smile on Gem's face. "What are you smiling about?"

"Mia told me about Jesse. I wish I'd gotten to meet him. Anyone who prays to God over what they're really thankful without worrying about how it sounds or what other people think has a genuine spirit. When we say grace at supper we always add a line about car parts now. It makes Mia smile every time."

"You do?" Vince looked down where Gem was laying from his seated position.

"Yeah, granted Mia's are better because she knows something about cars. Mine always end up like 'I'm thankful for tires that aren't bald' but that's ok because it just makes Mia laugh."

"I think he'd like that." Vince admitted in a low tone, thinking about 'The Mad Scientist' for the first time in months-at least while sober-almost had him choked up. "But anyway, at the time we were leaving race wars to go and pull off the heist Jess was still missing. Mia didn't want us to go. She begged Dominic not to but Dom wasn't hearing it. We went anyway and when we got to the cars Leon and even Letty told him they didn't feel right.

"None of us thought we should be going one man short, no one thought we should be pulling a job without Jesse but Dom wouldn't hear of it because he wanted the money. I didn't want to do it either but like always Dom's word was law. I didn't say a thing to him, just got into our Civic and got ready. Just follow the leader, that was me. Dom said do it so I didn't stop to question it, I just did it.

"I got out on the roof like I always did and jumped onto the truck. Dom had been trying to tell me the trucker had a shotgun but I couldn't hear him once I was out of the car. I jumped on the front of the truck and the guy driving started taking shots at me with a twelve gauge.

"They all tried to get me off the truck. I think Letty had an accident. I was pretty out of it but I'm pretty sure I saw her car go flying off the road after the trucker took shots at her. When I got tossed around from the front to the side my arm got all caught up in the wire so I couldn't get myself unhooked from the truck.

"What did you do?"

"Waited for Dom to figure it out. Dom always figured shit out, it was his job. He was the leader. I never wanted to be the boss, I was always happy to let Dom do it. He did it better anyway. So I just waited for Dom to get me off the truck. The trucker wasn't happy to just wait it out, he kept taking shots at me through the door. He finally clipped me in the side and that's where things get really blurry. Mia told me later that Dom's car got shot up pretty bad and he felt back. Leon picked him up after he'd gone back for Letty.

"How does Mia fit into this whole scene if she wasn't there, if she stayed with the trailer?"

"I'm getting there. Brian came clean to Mia at the camp site. He thought if he could find Dom before Dom started the job he could get him to stop. He really didn't have enough evidence to convict anyone at that point and if we hadn't done the last job the whole thing would have just basically gone away. He told Mia he was a cop and got her to go with him. They tried to figure out where we'd be and eventually traced Dominic's cell phone to get a lock on us. When they found us Dom was dead in the water on the side of the road waiting for Leon to catch up with Letty.

"Brian jumped out of the targa top of the Supra and basically threw me off the side of the truck into the car. He almost took one to the head from the trucker himself before he jumped back onto the car. The trucker clipped Mia and she spun out off the road. I guess I was pretty close to dying right around then so I don't remember that much of this." He spoke with a detatched calm, as though he was describing a scene from a movie he'd seen to her and not something that had happened to him. Of course, he'd mostly 'seen' things through Mia's eyes after he'd regained consciousness and been taken off the painkillers. "They dragged me out into a clearing and tried to get the bleeding stopped but it wasn't working. Mia told me after I woke up in the hospital that Brian said I had about ten minutes to live if I didn't get help.

"So he called one of those helicopter ambulance things-"

"Lifeflight chopper." Gem supplied.

"Yeah, one of those. But to do it he had to give away his cover right in front of Dom. And since Mia was right there with Brian Dom figured she'd known for a while at least that he was a cop. Dom made Mia leave with him and Brian took the Supra. He found them at home. Dom was getting ready to go find Jesse-and it was about time-and he'd already sent Leon and Letty on the run. All our cars were still at race wars so they took the working Civic. Brian got back and blocked him in just as Jesse came back.

"The Trans gunned him down right there on the sidewalk out front of the house over that stupid Jetta. I mean, it wasn't really about the Jetta, it was about Dom's bad blood with Johnny but they still killed Jesse right there. I guess he died in Mia's arms while Brian took off after Tran and Dom took after Brian. Brian killed Johnny and Dom ran Lance off the road. Lance is in a wheel chair now so he'll never be gunning anyone else down on a motorcycle at any rate.

"After that I don't know what happened. I know Brian gave Dom his keys because I heard it through the grapevine but I never heard from Dom or Brian again. Leon and Letty are the same story but I bet they're with Dom where ever they are. The cops came sniffing around and they seemed almost more interested in tracking down Brian than in finding any of the team or making trouble for me. I guess they knew they didn't have enough evidence to convict me, and catching rogue cops must have some sorta fuckin' significance to them.

"But when all's said and done Jesse's dead and here I am. I was in the hospital for two months after. They saved my arm but I'll have this scar forever, plus the one on my hip. That wasn't the worst of it though. The worst was being stuck in there when everything else was falling apart. I couldn't leave. I was hooked to all these things and then I needed all this stupid therapy so I'd still be able to use my arm.

"Mia had to bury Jesse alone. She was a wreck but there was nothing I could do. I guess it just all snowballed from there. I realized everyone was gone and I was," Vince stopped and stared out over the water. "Well, I wasn't going to be much good to anyone."

"But you're fine now."

Vince looked down at her, one eyebrow raised in question.

"Ok, maybe not fine, but I wouldn't say you're no good to anyone. Mia told me about your little friend Cory, how you gave him a job when no one else would because of the trouble he got into. If Mia didn't have you she would have been all alone. Can you honestly say she would have been better off?"

"But when Jesse was dying and everyone else was running away I was lying in the hospital drugged beyond consciousness. When Mia was all alone for those two months after her brother and our friends took off I couldn't do a thing about it. Then when I did get out I realized that instead of being that guy who was around to follow orders and get shit done I was the guy who had to decide what had to be done too. So during the day I stepped up to it but at night I guess I've basically running away from the responsibility with the booze. I can't tell you it's gonna change either. This really isn't how I saw myself when I thought about where I'd be."

"You think waiting tables in some dinky bar is how I saw my career when I ran away to L.A.? Sometimes things don't go according to plan. It doesn't give you the right to just fuck off for the rest of your life."

Vince's head snapped around in shock. "You just said fuck."

"So?" Gem was glad the night hid the pink she was sure was staining her cheeks.

"You never said a word worse than bastard in front of me before and you looked like someone would be along to wash your mouth out over that."

"The situation seemed to call for the f word, ok?"

"Yeah, not like I got virgin ears. Just shocked me is all."

Gem flopped back onto her back again and wondered what time it was. She was the next thing to cold and the sky almost looked like it was getting light over on the horizon. "You know what?"

"What?"

"In a lot of ways I still envy you. You've done so much, tried so many things and I've never done a thing more exciting than have a fight with you in the kitchen."

"If that was the most exciting thing that ever happened in your life than some people haven't been doing certain things right." Vince said with a leer her way, and cracked himself up. It was just such a, well, coyote thing to say he almost didn't know where it'd come from. It hadn't entered his head to brazenly flirt with a girl like that in a long time.

Gem took a second to get it and then giggled, embarrassed when she got it. "Still, you just go do what you want and I think about everything and worry what people will think and analyze all the possible outcomes before I do pretty much anything. I wish just once I could just do what I want without any thought about it first. Just be totally spontaneous."

"So you think I just do what I want when I want to?"

"Um."

"Ok then." Vince leaned over Gem, his face moving closer and closer to hers. A split second before their lips would have been together he snatched Gem and the blanket up and tossed them over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" Gem called in shock.

"I don't want to. Besides it's time we got back. If we're gone when Mia wakes up she's gonna flip out and worry about where we are. I gotta get you back to your bed before she finds you missing. Me she wouldn't care about." Vince tossed Gem lightly into her seat and walked around the front of the car.

"I think you sell yourself short when you act like Mia doesn't care about you. It's because she cares so much she nags so much. She hates to see you like you are. She showed me pictures of everyone before and I think she's right to worry. There's like half the you there use to be."

"You sayin' you think I'd look better if I was bigger again?"

"Um, no." Gem stammered, giving away the fact that the answer was yes. "It's just that most people don't let themselves change so drastically without their families having good reason to worry."

"Sure." Vince smirked.

"Ok, sue me. I think you were almost nice looking when you were all buff but now, not so much." Gem smirked herself, confident she'd gotten one over on the smug Vince. He took one hand off the wheel and placed it over his heart.

"Oh, how cruel. Just remember I know where you live."

"That goes double for you pal."

They drove in silence for most of the rest of the way home. When they were back in their neighbourhood Vince looked at Gem out of the corner of his eye. "You know I left out a part of that story I told you."

"Yeah, what part?"

"The part where somehow all of the evidence against us disappeared along with Brian. I mean all of it. If you tell anyone what I told you I could literally end up in prison, and since I have priors it won't be a minimum security vacation either."

"You can't honestly think I'd turn you in."

"Didn't Mia tell me your brother is in law school?"

"Yeah, but I'm not Doug."

"You sounded like you two were pretty close all those times you talked about him."

"We are. I still don't tell him _everything_. If you had a little sister would you want to know _all _about her life?"

"No."

"There you go. Besides, Doug wants to be a lawyer, I want to live the rock'n roll dream. They're pretty different."

They pulled into the driveway and Vince cut the engine. They just sat together in the front seat a minute, each with things to say to the other but neither sure how. With a glance at each other they got out and headed up the front walk.

"If the neighbours see us creeping home in our underwear at this hour they're definitely going to wonder what was going on."

"Not our neighbours. They've seen worse. Much worse." Vince answered as he unlocked the front door. They stopped inside and Gem kicked off her sandals. "Guess this is your stop." Vince said as she climbed up the first stair. At the sound of his voice she turned back to look at him.

She reached out and ran a finger tip over the cut on his cheek, the expression in her eyes something he wasn't sure he wanted to understand. "Get some sleep."

He turned his face into her touch. How long had it been since someone had touched him because they wanted to, not because they had to change his bandage or because it seemed like the thing to do? Telling her all those things he'd been keeping inside, even if there'd been more he'd wanted to say but couldn't find the courage to admit them to anyone else had lifted a weight off his shoulders.

Some of the guilt he'd felt about not being there for Mia and Jesse because he'd gotten hurt was lifted. Rationally he knew it wasn't his fault he got hurt like he did. It was, in that he never should have put himself in that situation, but it wasn't like he could have known it was coming either. That still didn't make him worthy of a woman like her.

"Thanks. See you in the morning." He stepped back out of her touch. It was the last thing he wanted to do but she deserved so much better than him, so much more than he could offer her. She was a shining star with a bright future ahead of her and his star had already gone super nova.

With a look he would swear cut right through him to all the secrets he thought he kept to himself she headed up the stairs.

Vince over slept. He woke up and squinted blearily at the glowing numbers of his clock. He spent the next few minutes trying to make sense of the fact they told him it was ten am. He knew that wasn't possible. He got up at eight thirty every day. It was just how things were. Routines were his salvation. They were the only thing that kept him going day after day.

He got out of bed with a groan and pulled on some clothes as he cursed about being late for work. Not that anyone would say anything to him but he generally would have called Cory and let him know he would be opening up on his own. As he started up the stairs he realized there was loud music blasting from somewhere on the main floor of the house. He wasn't sure but he thought he heard laughter as well.

When he crested the top of the stairs it was to find Gem sweeping the floor and Mia trying to scrub the little droplets of blood off another section of it. At least Mia was scrubbing. Gem he figured had been sweeping up the glass at one point. She was, at the point he found her however, dancing with the broom to the tune of 'You Bring Me Joy' by Mary J. Blige. She switched from dancing with the broom to using it as a pretend microphone.

With her hair in pigtails and Care Bears on her tank top she looked about twelve years old, at least in spirit. He watched as Mia looked up at her friend and started to giggle.

"_I don't know if I could live, live without you! You bring me joy."_

She went back to dancing with the broom in exaggerated motions and he continued to hide in the shadows just below the top of the stairs watching her, unable to keep the smile off his face. The upbeat rhythm of the song was catchy. Mia finished with her scrubbing and as she went to walk by Gem on her way to the sink the blond girl tossed the broom aside and grabbed Mia, twirling her around before dipping her. When she let Mia stand back up both of them laughed together.

"You think the place is back to normal yet?" Gem asked Mia, looking around.

"Back to normal enough, what ever that is. I don't think I even know. And of course it's shy a few coffee cups." Mia grinned, thinking of the mug winging its way toward the back of Vince's head.

"Shut up!" Gem blushed. "I don't know what I was thinking."

Vince waited for her to express remorse for what could have happened to him if her missile had connected with his head.

"That was a nice cup." Gem finished.

"Yeah, it was. Almost a shame it missed. I mean, now its death was in vain."

"No it wasn't. Trust me, point taken." Vince broke into the conversation from his shadowed hiding place. He walked into the sunny kitchen. Mia rushed to his side.

"I cut you. I didn't mean to."

"It's ok, just a scratch. I had it coming."

Mia's face took on a look of surprise. She looked at Gem. "Did he just admit he was wrong, even if it was in some round about way?"

"I think he did." Gem smiled. Vince smiled back. He tried not to, but in the end he couldn't help himself. Mia looked from one to the other speculatively.

"You two made up fast."

"We talked for a bit after you went to bed and reached something of an understanding." Gem admitted with a quick glance at Vince.

"Really?" Mia drew the word out, making almost more of a statement than a question.

"Don't you have a store to open?" Vince asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Sure, but I could say the same thing to you."

"I have a staff to open for me when I can't show up."

"Turns out Mia has anal glaucoma." Gem said, her face carefully schooled into a mask of seriousness.

"Come again?" Vince asked.

"She just can't see her ass making it to work today." Gem lost it, giggling uncontrollably.

"You're both crazy today." Vince said with a shake of his head, but he was smiling while he said it.

"Gem called in sick too and when we get this cleaned up we're going to the beach."

"What beach?"

"Likely the one down by Neptune's Net. Can you believe Gem's never been?"

"Really. Can't remember the last time I ate there myself." Vince looked off toward the back door. With a sigh he started toward the exit. "I guess I should really go check on Cory and Bill."

"Tell Cory I said hi." Gem chirped happily, an evil grin on her face. She clearly knew he was hinting around for an invite and didn't plan on offering.

Just when he thought he was going to have to come right out and ask if they minded if he came along Mia took pity on him. "You can come too if you really want to."

"I guess, if you want me to." He tried to sound like it didn't matter to him either way. Both girls saw through the act.

"We're leaving in half an hour so if you're coming than you better hurry and get ready."

"Yes ma'am." Vince said with a mock salute Gem's way as he headed back down to the basement.

"I guess we need to get ready too now." Gem said to Mia as she stooped to sweep up her pile of shattered pottery.

"We should. If we take longer than him it's only going to leave us listening to a rant about how women take forever to get ready for anything."

They headed up the stairs together and each closed her own door. Mia found herself ready ahead of Gem, something she never would have thought possible.

"You ok in there?" She called, knocking on Gem's bedroom door.

"No. My bathing suit doesn't fit anymore. I think I got a bit smaller since I moved to L.A."

"Let me see." Mia called into the room through the closed door.

"Well, ok." Gem said unhappily and opened her bedroom door. Her black one piece had seen better days, fit or not, but it certainly didn't fit her now. It hung off her front and back.

"We can't have this." Mia said as she took in how Gem looked in her stretched out suit. "I'll lend you one of mine."

"Haven't we been down this road before? Your stuff doesn't fit me."

"One of my bathing suites might, and like you said you've lost some weight since you've been here, and I use to be bigger than I am now. All you can do is try one of mine and if it doesn't fit than we'll just have to go buy you a new one before we go to the beach." Mia turned back to her own room. She wasn't taking no for an answer. In her opinion Gem was far too pale for a California girl. She headed back to Gem's room a moment later. "Try this." She handed Gem a bright red bikini top and a pair of red bottoms with brilliant white hibiscus blossoms all over them in a Hawaiian print.

Gem turned back to her room with a sigh. She really didn't figure on Mia's clothes fitting her at all. To her surprise she did get the suit on. She didn't feel very comfortable with what it covered. Maybe to say she didn't feel comfortable with what it didn't cover was a more apt statement. She'd never worn a two piece suit before and it was making her uncomfortable. She pulled a tank top and pair of shorts on over the suit and left her room.

"Well, does it fit?" Mia asked.

"I guess so." Gem mumbled, tossing the strap of her beach bag over her shoulder as she looked at her feet.

"Well, lemme see and I'll tell you if it does or not."

Gem pulled off her tank top with a sigh and stood in a belligerent pose, giving away how unsettled the bathing suit situation was making her.

"It fits you good. You need some sun though. You look like some sort of vampire chick with your skin so pale."

"Ok, let's just get this over with." Gem pulled a bucket hat on over her pigtails.

"Why the attitude all of a sudden?"

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable being on display like I will be in this suit. It's so red, and, well, small."

"You'll get a lot of attention, but it'll be the good kind, don't worry. Let's go."

They headed down the stairs to find Vince waiting at the bottom ahead of them. "I thought you two were never coming."

"Yeah yeah." Mia nagged with a smile. "We're ready now."

They left the house and locked the door. The girls walked over to Vince's car on instinct, knowing he would want to be the one to drive. He tore down to the popular beach and parked the car at the restaurant 'Neptune's Net'. They ate lunch and then headed down to the beach together, carting their blankets and towels.

The second they had their blankets out Mia was stripped down to her swimsuit and getting comfortable on her blanket. Gem looked around nervously, unsure if she was going to be willing to take her clothes off or not.

"You're never going to get a tan like that." Mia teased as Gem stood by the blanket. With a sanguine shrug Gem pulled her tank top off over her head and sat on the blanket, wiggling out of her shorts. "See, was that so bad?"

"Yes, everyone is looking at me."

"Yeah, because you look good. Red's your colour."

Gem's only reply was a look Mia correctly read as 'I think you're just saying that'. Gem pulled her hat down over her face more and pushed her sun glasses up her nose as she reclined back on her elbows and looked around at the other people on the beach.

Vince fought his instinct to stare at both girls and settled for staring at all the other women walking around the beach wearing their brief suits. There was no way on earth he was taking off anything he had on. His tank top and shorts stayed.

"You wanna go for a swim?" Mia asked Gem about half an hour later.

"Yes." Gem admitted reluctantly. She was so hot the water looked very inviting, but going for a swim meant getting up and walking across the expanse of white sand between her and the cool blue water.

"Let's go then." Mia hopped up and stood waiting on Gem.

Gem got up and adjusted her boy cut bottoms surreptitiously. With a glance at Vince she followed Mia toward the water. The look on Vince's face stuck with her. She hadn't been able to read it and wasn't sure if it was a good look or not. She followed Mia out into the water and the two of them swam around and splashed each other for half an hour before they decided to get out. As they reached the shore a couple of tanned, blond surfer guys walked up to them.

"We're a few people short for a game of volleyball. You girls want to join us?"

Mia and Gem shared a look. "Sure." Mia answered for both of them.

"Great!" The two guys shared a look of their own. They waited for Mia and Gem to precede them back to the area where the net was set up. "So do you guys know how to play?"

"It's been a while." Gem answered their question. "But I think I remember all the basic rules."

"Me too." Mia added with a grin.

The guys who had invited them introduced themselves and the rest of their group, including the other two girls who were with them. They picked two teams and started to play.

Vince watched Mia and Gem play volleyball with the group of young blond men down the beach, fighting his jealousy. He'd seen the way those guys had checked out Mia and Gem as they'd walked down the beach. He knew what guys like them had on their minds and he didn't like it. He checked the watch Mia had left in her bag and saw it was almost supper time anyway. He got up off the blanket and started their way.

He was use to all the attention Mia got in public in a bathing suit. He wasn't use to watching guys ogle Gem. He found he was just as jealous over Gem as he use to be over Mia and he had about as much right. That was to say he didn't really have any right. But when Gem had stood up wearing Mia's little bathing suit he'd wanted to tackle her back down and wrap her up in something.

Why had she been hiding that body under loose, baggy clothes? He'd been attracted to her all along but when he realized just what she had under her reserved clothing his hormones had gone into overdrive. And now there she was, playing volleyball with a group of strange guys, letting them look at her, smile at her, occasionally touch her in friendly ways, all while they wore nothing but low slung surfer boy trunks, their lean, tanned chests and washboard stomachs on display.

It wasn't fair. She even admitted as little as a year ago she would have found him cute, handsome even. But that was before; before he became a skinny, pale, scarred version of himself. Now he was just her slightly annoying roommate who she figured had a drinking problem and she was letting random guys at the beach hit on her. Guys who weren't too self conscious to go shirtless and still had normal lives. Guys who were handsome now, not has beens like him. He'd known he wasn't good enough for her, but the contrast of himself verses those young, likely normal guys was really driving the point home. When had he become someone who thought less than the best of himself?

He looked up from his feet as he crossed the sand and watched as Gem volleyed the ball and Mia jumped up, spiking it over the net. All the guys on their team cheered and high fived each other and the girls. He really couldn't blame the guys for staring, but he didn't have to like it. He reached the side of their court.

"It's time to leave Mia." He called out.

"Really? It can't be that late." Mia called back as she pouted, clearly still flirting with the boys she'd met.

"Did you see us?" Gem asked happily as she walked over to Vince, her discomfort about her attire forgotten. "We were playing volleyball and we won!" She was exuberant, clearly happy to be out and having fun with people her own age.

"I saw." He couldn't help but smile at her. He held out a hand on impulse and felt the smile get bigger when she took it.

"Now that you mention it I am starving." She said as she moved around to Vince's side. "You coming Mia?"

"I guess." Mia started dragging her feet through the sand on her way over to her friends.

"Hey girl, we're goin' out later and you guys're welcome to come with." One of the surfer guys called after Mia. Mia looked at Gem and Vince pleadingly. Neither looked all that enthusiastic about his offer. "I'll give you my cell number. You wanna go you gimme a call." The guy got a pen off one of his friends and jotted his number down on Mia's palm with a grin. He added the name Matt below the number.

"Ok Matt, thanks for the game." Mia said, smiling.

With a wave Matt and his friends went back to their game and Mia and Gem started back down the beach with Vince. Vince didn't let go of Gem's hand and she didn't take hers away from him.

The drive home went fast. Mia and Gem cooked a simple meal and they all sat down to eat. When they were done the girls cleaned up and Vince disappeared to the shop. He said he had to check up on the boys after a day of no supervision to make sure the place was still standing.

"Gem, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"I don't think you want to go out with those guys tonight do you?"

"Not really. I'm pretty tired and since I was too sick to work I think I better not get caught out at some other club. Why?"

"I'd really like to go." Mia looked torn.

"But you feel guilty for leaving me here alone and for the fact you might have a good time?"

"Yeah." Mia looked up at Gem. It was clear Gem had hit the nail on the head.

"Go. It's been a long time since you got to go have fun. I'll be fine here alone. I'll enjoy the quiet time. You can tell me all about it tomorrow."

Mia hugged Gem tightly. "Thank you."

"No problem girl. Clubbing was never my thing anyway. I like little independent places with live entertainment better as a rule."

"Come help me get ready." Mia dragged Gem up the stairs and into her room. An hour later she was dressed up and Matt was knocking on the door. Gem opened it and invited him in.

"You're not comin'?"

"No, just Mia." Gem leaned in close to the man, trying to imagine what Vince would say. "You hurt her in any way I'll bury you so deep the heat of the earth's core will incinerate the evidence. Got me?" She asked with a sunny-fake-grin.

"I got you chica." The blond man actually looked nervous. Mia came down the stairs, dressed in a white sundress with strappy white sandals that accented her now deeper skin tone.

"You two have fun." Gem chirped as she pulled the front door open. When she'd closed it behind Mia and her friend she leaned against it with a groan. She hadn't wanted to bring Mia down or make her feel guilty into staying home but she was in agony. She'd forgotten how long it had been since she spent any amount of time in the sun and she had one hell of a sunburn starting to show.

"How do I get myself into these messes?" She asked herself as she headed upstairs. She went through all her drawers but she didn't find anything that didn't hurt her sunburn. Due to the suit she'd had on a huge percentage of her body was as red as an east coast lobster when water was on the boil. She gave up on finding any clothes that wouldn't chafe her raw skin and put her bathing suit top back on along with a pair of terry shorts. She knotted her hair up on top of her head to keep it from irritating her back.

She went back down stairs and turned on the TV before laying on her stomach on the couch, feeling very sorry for herself.

When Vince got back to the house there were no lights on. "If they went out with those punks I'll kill them all." He muttered walking up the front walk. He pushed the door open and walked into the living room. The TV was on but nothing else.

"Mia? That you?" He heard Gem's sleepy voice call from the couch. "I need you to put some of that aloe stuff from the bathroom on my back. I couldn't reach."

Vince flipped the lamp on and looked over the back of the couch. When he saw Gem's back and realized her skin was almost as red as her top he turned around and headed up the stairs to get the green goop she was referring to. He made his way back down and hit the kitchen next. A minute later he sat on the edge of the couch in the hollow curve of Gem's waist. He squirted some of the stuff onto her back and watched her shudder. She had her face turned away from him, into the back of the couch.

"Man that stuff's cold." She groaned as the cold salve hit her over heated skin.

Vince took a deep breath to steady himself for what he was about to do and started to rub the stuff around on her back. Touching her skin was like touching fire she was so sunburned. He squirted more of the green gel onto Gem and started to work it around.

"Did you have a good time?" Gem asked as she felt more gel fall onto her skin. "I wouldn't have thought it could be that late yet. What are you doing home already?" It felt very good until it heated up. She could just imagine her skin was soaking it right in. It had to be deprived of moisture as bad as she'd allowed herself to burn. She felt like a total idiot. She also wondered why Mia wasn't talking to her. Did that Matt guy hurt her feelings?

The hands on her back moved down her sides with some of the cooling product on them. It was about then she realized the hands weren't small and soft like Mia's would be, but large and rough, belonging to someone who did manual labour daily and had the calluses to show for it.

"Mia?" She asked hesitantly, giving whoever a change to identify themselves before she freaked out.

"No." She heard Vince answer gruffly. "You didn't think of sunscreen?" He asked as he continued to smooth her skin in long, gentle strokes.

"No."

"Where is Mia?"

"She went out with those guys from today."

"She shoulda stayed here and took care of you."

"She really wanted to go so I didn't tell her how bad this was." Gem groaned as more gel hit her skin. It felt very good. "She deserves to have some fun. That stuff feels so good until it gets hot."

It was getting hot all over, Vince thought as he looked down at the sunburned nape of Gem's neck. He was getting all hot and bothered over a girl who was currently seeing him as someone who could reach her back while she couldn't. He did have a surprise for her though. He reached into the dish he'd brought with him from the kitchen and took an ice cube out of it.

Placing it on the nape of her neck he trailed it down the dip of her spin all the way to the waistband of her shorts. It was something they'd always done for sunburns when they were kids, but this didn't feel like when they were kids to him. There was an entirely different, adult overtone to it. He ran the ice back up to her neck before sliding it down over her left shoulder.

"Just never stop doing that." Gem moaned, the slide of the ice over her overheated skin the first comfortable thing she'd felt since they'd gotten home.

Vince picked up a second cube and started it over her other shoulder. Her skin prickled up in little goose bumps as the contrast of cold and hot clashed.

"Next time, as fun as this is, why don't you let me put some sunscreen on you before we hit the beach, ok?" Vince asked, thinking of the pain she was going to be in in the morning.

"Deal." She started to pick up on the currents running under the situation. When she started to feel his fingers around the melting ice she took a deep breath to gather her courage for what she was about to do. She flipped from her stomach to her back. "My tummy got really burned too. Can I have one of those?" She pointed at the ice.

"No you can't. They're mine." Vince held the dish out of her reach.

"But it really hurts." Gem pouted, trying to copy the way Mia did it that seemed to make boys fall over themselves to give her what she wanted.

"I just don't think you're qualified to use these," Vince gestured at the bowl of ice, "after seeing what you already managed to do to yourself today. You better let me do it."

"Well, if you insist." Gem tossed one arm over the top of the couch and let the other fall over the edge toward the floor and watched with rapt attention as Vince picked up a fresh ice cube and pressed it against her skin at the base of her sternum and started to trail it down the indentation bisecting her abdominal muscles.

"Why are you still wearing your bathing suit?" Vince asked as he dipped the ice cube into Gem's navel before continuing back up her stomach.

"It's the only thing that doesn't really hurt me to wear."

He nodded like he understood before moving from her stomach to shoulders and skimming the ice over her clavicle.

Gem couldn't take her eyes off the glistening cube of ice as it made its way from her collar bone down to the edge of her bikini top and traced the edge from the strap on her shoulder to the point where it came together in the center of her cleavage.

"Just how badly burned are you?" Vince asked in a raspy voice, the longer only a rapidly melting cube of ice separated his hands from her skin the harder it got not to just toss the ice and forget she was burned.

"Well, if you see the skin that was covered next to the skin that wasn't," Gem's words trailed off as she slowly sat up and slid the strap nearest Vince off her shoulder and down her arm. "You can really see how red I am."

"Yeah, I see that." Vince answered, never breaking eye contact with Gem.

Gem felt almost embarrassed holding his gaze but she wouldn't look away. They were almost face to face once she'd sat up. Everything felt like it was happening underwater as her blood almost felt thicker in her veins and everything got a slow, thick feeling to it. She watched like her life was in slow motion as Vince reached up and took the elastic out of her hair letting it fall all around her before burying his hand that didn't have the ice cube into the thick mass and bringing her toward him.

He'd tried to fight it. Told himself so many times he wasn't good enough for her, was too cynical, too jaded, too world weary for her. He couldn't fight anymore. Maybe if he'd been smart and just rubbed the aloe into her back and left. If he'd retreated to his own room right away instead of playing games with her, than he just might have been able to walk away. But not now, not when she was looking at him with her lips just slightly parted and that hazy look in her unfocused eyes, the one that told him she was equally affected by whatever it was between them.

The remnants of the last ice cube fell forgotten to the floor as he used his other hand to hold the back of her head as he leaned in close enough to brush her lips with his. The brief contact was all it took to drive him over the edge of his control.

If this was what it was supposed to feel like when a guy you liked kissed you than Vince was right, the men in her life had been doing something wrong, Gem thought as she eagerly kissed Vince back. This was exciting, this was an almost overwhelming feeling of losing herself totally to another person and all he was doing was kiss her with his hands in her hair. Like he could read her mind he released her lips and trailed his kisses down her neck and across her shoulder. She let her head fall back to give him easier access.

_So much for not getting involved with him_.

With a boldness she would never have thought she had mere minutes ago she ran her hands into his shaggy hair and pulled his mouth back to her own, kissing him. With a growl he kissed her back, his hands going around behind her, fumbling with the clasp of her bikini top.

While her participation was equal to his own, her responses just as eager, there was a certain inexperienced quality to them as well, Vince thought as he fought another moan when Gem started to echo his treatment of her neck on his own. He finally got the back of her bathing suit undone and ran his hands over her bare back. The temperature difference between the small strip of her flesh her bathing suit had protected and the rest of her skin made him pull up short.

With a heartfelt sigh he pulled back from her teasing kisses.

"What's wrong?" Gem asked, hurt filling her turquoise eyes instantly.

"Nothing," he said, the tone a deep growl of frustration. "You're too hurt for this now. I know you're not feeling it now but if this goes much farther that burn is going to hurt like hell."

"No it won't." She moved to kiss him again, intent on what she wanted.

"Yes it will. Trust me, no one wants to finish what we started more than I do ok? But the second something scrapes against any part of you that's burned you're going to regret it."

"It's not an issue." Gem did her best imitation of his growl.

He chuckled. He knew just how she felt. The fact that he even cared was unnerving. Why wasn't he simply willing to take what she was clearly offering without question? "It is when one of us is covered in sunburn and the other is covered in hair princess." The word he'd used so often as an insult came out as an endearment. He wished he could take it back on one hand, and found it fitting on the other. "There'll be other times for this. I'm not going anywhere and neither are you."

"I guess." Gem shivered as the night air blew in the window and over her exposed skin. He was right on one count. She was starting to hurt and it was likely true it would only get worse if a repetitive motion chafed it against something like blankets, or say, couch cushions.

"Come on. I'll take you to your room."

"I can walk." Gem snapped back, in a huff.

"I know but I'm trying to be the gentleman here so humour me." Vince swung Gem up into his arms and started out of the room.

"It's going to be so hot in my room." Gem whined, starting to get the sick feeling that often accompanied over exposure to the sun.

"That is why you are going to sleep in my room tonight. The basement is cooler by nature than the upstairs." He made the decision in a snap.

"But I thought you said we couldn't," Gem trailed off, blushing.

"I still mean it. I'll sleep in one of the extra beds down there." Vince started down the stairs. "Don't look at the mess."

"Ok."

He set her on his bed and she stretched out, burrowing her face into his pillow. The way it smelled like him was comforting. He left the room and returned a few minutes later. "I want you to take this Tylenol and then try to get some sleep." She did as she was told.

Vince could only figure the exhaustion of her sun exposure made her tired because she fell asleep almost right away. He started out of his room, figuring on using Leon's bed for the night. He paused outside the door of Leon's room. Which demons were worse? The ones which would haunt him in Leon's room or the one's waiting for him sharing his bed with his temporary guest? In the end he chose to tempt fate with Leon's room. He didn't trust himself around that blond woman and any bed.

"This place is disgusting." Mia drew out disgusting to emphasize how very appalling she found the state of the basement. She pushed into Vince's room. "You awake yet?" She asked as she walked over to the bed.

"No." Gem moaned. "I want you to kill me. Please?"

"I'm sorry I didn't think to remind you to put on sunscreen. I'm use to getting so much sun I don't really need it."

"I should have thought of it." Gem sat up, wincing. She looked around the room and grimaced. "He lives like this?"

"Yeah." Mia answered, wrinkling up her nose. "So, how'd you end up in his bed?"

"He offered because it's cooler down here. If I'd known I might end with plague from the conditions of the place I would have suffered in the heat upstairs."

"No kidding. You don't want to see the bathroom."

"I imagine not." Gem got out of the bed and happened to see herself in Vince's mirror. "Oh man. I look like a ripe tomato."

"You might end up with a nice tan when it heals."

"I also might end up with melanoma." Gem pulled the strap of her top down her arm to compare her normal skin to her burn. "Look how red I am!"

"Yeah, you shoulda been tanning without the top. Now you'll have tan lines." Mia smiled cheekily.

Gem was glad her burn hid her blush. It was bad enough to be caught in Vince's room, let alone being caught in Vince's room and talk about nude sunbathing. "I guess I should go change and call Barry to tell him I can't make it today. There's no way I can work like this. What are you doing home anyway? Don't you normally open the store for a few hours on Saturday?"

"Yeah, until lunch time. You slept right through lunch. Vince'll be home from the garage any time now."

That got Gem moving. She got out of the basement as fast as she could, which wasn't fast enough to avoid seeing the mess the rest of the level was in. She got in the shower as soon as she got upstairs and stayed under the cool water as long as she could. Her next stop was the phone. She called Barry and told him she was still sick and couldn't make it in.

She had to talk to him some time to set his mind to rest that she was ok but ill. The fact she'd called in sick yesterday than hadn't seen Vince all night had made him worry for her.

"No really Barry, I'm fine. I have a bad head cold," Gem did feel bad for the lie but it couldn't be helped. "And I fell asleep in back yard yesterday and got a very bad sunburn. Vince didn't go anywhere last night because Mia wasn't home and he thought someone should stay home with me in case I had sunstroke or something."

"You're sure you're not in trouble? There isn't someone standing there making you say you're fine is there?"

"Gosh no. I'm touched you're so concerned for me Barry, I really am, but I'm fine. Or at least I'll be fine after a few gallons of water and orange juice and a gallon or so of aloe gel."

"If you're sure. Should Barbara drop by with something for you?"

"I'll be fine. I have Mia and V to wait on me. I'll see you on Tuesday."

"Ok, see you then."

Barry hung up on his end and Gem set the phone onto the cradle with a sigh. She hated lying. She also really wondered what Vince had done to make everyone have such a bad opinion of him. She knew they all likely suspected what he'd done but with no concrete proof it seemed so wrong to hold it against him. She turned back to Mia.

"So how'd your night go?"

"Oh my God Gem I had such a good time. Matt was really nice and the rest of his friends were too. Almost every day I use to think about Brian. Ever since you came I've been thinking of him less and less but going out with Matt and his friends. I dunno, it's like it reminded me that life goes on and other guys are just as nice and just as cute. Not that I still don't want a chance to settle things with Brian but it's like what happened last summer isn't the driving force of my life anymore."

"I'm glad you had a good time and they were all really nice."

"They were all totally nice. You should have come with us."

"I don't think I would have had enough ability to move to go out dancing. I had a nice time passing out on the couch, drooling on the cushions."

Mia smiled at that. "When did Vince get home?"

"Um, I don't really know. He just woke me up and sent me to bed downstairs when he got in. I didn't really see the time. I know it was dark outside. It could have been any time after nine I guess but I really…" Gem realized she was babbling again and shut her mouth. Mia gave her one of those 'I see right through you' looks she hated.

"Well, was it late? Did he smell like beer? Did he go out last night or come home and stay home?"

"Came home and stayed I think." Gem muttered, uncomfortable with the topic.

"I see." Mia grinned. "So what really happened? Tell me before he gets home."

"Nothing happened Mia. He came home, he woke me up, he yelled at me for getting burned so badly and he told me to go to bed in his room because it was too hot upstairs for me with my skin all burned. That's all."

"But something kept him home. If he really stayed home and didn't go out drinking last night was the first night in almost a year he stayed in and didn't drink to some level."

"Maybe he was tired too." Gem retorted defensively. Before she could continue they both heard the sound of Vince's car winding down in the driveway. Gem gave Mia a look asking her to let the subject go.

As Mia watched Gem and Vince avoid eye contact with each other, avoid personal conversations, and walk on egg shells around each other she knew there was more to the story than Gem had let on. Something had happened between her friends and she was determined to find out what.

Neither of them would co-operate with her however, and all she had was a nagging sense that something was up. No one would fill her in on what, and lord knew she never saw anything that even remotely hinted they were more than friends over the rest of Gem's days off. She did see a lot of them being edgy around each other though, something they hadn't been before the night she'd gone out.

She was further convinced something was up when, for all the nights Gem had off Vince stayed home with them instead of taking off for his nightly visits to the Cobalt. It was like he had decided he'd rather be home with them than at the bar if Gem wasn't there.

Mia watched with interest as, when Gem went back to work on Tuesday Vince found his desire to go back to the Cobalt. There was something up between them. It was the most frustrating thing Mia had dealt with in a long time that no one would tell her what. She tried to figure it out and scheme details about what had gone on for the rest of the week but no one took the bait.

On Thursday Gem showed up for lunch at Toretto's, as she did almost every day. As Mia set Gem's sandwich and drink down in front of her she sighed wistfully.

"No I won't tell you anything I haven't already so stop with the 'poor me' routine already." Gem said after swallowing. She looked up at Mia with a teasing light in her eyes. "You think so much happened and you're being kept in the dark. Whatever you made up in your head is ten times better than anything that could have really happened."

"So something did happen?"

"Yeah, in your perverted mind it did." Gem turned back to her sandwich.

"You think I don't see how you look at him, how he looks at you? Something is going on."

"If, and I'm saying if hypothetically, something was going on, would that make you happy or upset?" Gem asked as she looked at Mia, a hint of nervousness in her eyes.

"Happy of course. He's a good guy who needs a good girl to remind him of the fact. I know you said you weren't out for a project relationship but the changes in him since you moved in are so obvious to me. I can't help but wonder just how much like the old Vince he could get back to being with you around."

"I wasn't out to put someone back together Mia." Gem sighed.

"But what if the results when you're done are really worth it?"

"My question is will they be."

"I think so."

"The guy is practically your brother, what else are you going to say?" Gem didn't let Mia answer. "Anyway, I have to go home and get ready for work. If you're bored tonight why don't you come down and see us sing? We go on around eight."

"I might do that."

Gem left and Mia went back to tidying up her little lunch counter.

Around seven she decided she would like to see Gem sing, and perhaps would like even more to see Vince play again. She threw on some clean clothes and a little makeup. She remembered where the club was from the time she took Gem to get her car back and with in half an hour of leaving her house she was parking beside Gem's grey car outside the Cobalt.

Mia adjusted her bracelets nervously as she opened the door of the club and entered the cool, dark interior. There was no sign of either Gem or Vince so she just sat down near the back of the room in a corner. When the waitress stopped by she ordered a fruity drink and sat back to wait for the show to get underway.

Just as she got her drink a dark woman with long black hair walked up to a microphone in the corner by the stage and turned it on.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome once again to open mic night at the Cobalt Café. I'm your host for the evening, Nalia. We have quite a few repeat performers tonight and a few fresh faces so I hope you all enjoy the show. Up first, as I'm sure you're getting use to we have our very own Gem Davis," the crowd clapped and a few even whistled, "who just tonight informed me she and her band have decided on a name of Indigo Sound, for now."

Mia liked that name, Indigo Sound. She wondered who had come up with it. She was really looking forward to hearing Gem on stage. She'd heard bits and pieces of her friend's singing as she practised upstairs in her music room, but had never heard her sing a whole song, or sing with musical accompaniment.

"So without any farther adieu, join me in welcoming Indigo Sound."

Mia watched as Gem came down the hall to the left of the stage, followed by a black woman, a very sharply dressed young man with very black hair, and lastly Vince. The later moved to the darkest corner of the stage as if he was trying to become invisible and started hooking up his guitar. The young man sat at a drum set and the black woman sat at a baby grand which had been added to the stage, a keyboard having been pushed off to the side.

Gem looked like a different woman to Mia while she was up on stage. She was confident, smiling, sure of herself; a blue guitar slung behind her, strap across her body. The strap was as blue as her guitar and stood out against her black shirt in sharp relief. Mia did a double take. She'd put a bunch of Letty's old clothes in Gem's room, figuring they'd fit with Gem's recent weight loss. She'd never expected Gem to wear any of them, most of them a racier style than Gem preferred. The shirt she was wearing tonight was one of Letty's. Black, tight, and sheer; it dipped low into Gem's cleavage and was only rendered decent by the black bra she had on under it.

She had on a pair of her own pants but she was wearing them low on her hips, allowing her navel to show. Her hair had picked up lighter highlights from their day at the beach and was hanging down around her shoulders and half way down her back, thick and shiny. Her skin had in fact healed to a nice honey colour; giving her a healthy glow and making her eyes seem impossibly blue, so much bluer than normal. She looked beautiful on the stage with the foot lights shining up at her. Mia almost couldn't believe the woman on the stage was the same one who helped her scrub floors and came to eat the horrible tuna at her café almost every day for lunch.

As she watched them set up she noticed how Vince watched Gem as he stood, waiting for their band to get started. There was something there, and the two of them could try to keep her in the dark all they wanted. She wasn't blind. She could see how they both looked at each other when they thought the other one wasn't looking. It was stupid for them to like each other as they clearly did and pretend not to as they clearly were.

With a sigh Mia leaned back in her chair and looked around. She could see why both her friends liked the bar. The atmosphere was laid back and calm. The blue neon lights gave the place a modern air and the red brick walls helped make sure it wasn't too modern. The dark wood L shaped bar had brass stools with blue leather seats and the various bottles of liquor were on glass shelves behind the bar, lit from beneath with blue light.

"Good evening everyone." Gem said as she stepped up to the microphone. "As you have all no doubt heard from Nalia's announcement we have decided to name our band. Since I couldn't get up here week after week and perform for you all without my friends it didn't seem right for me to get all the credit. So now we're going by the name Indigo Sound. It seemed appropriate as I write all the music on my blue guitar, Elliott loves to wear blue, and we got together in a club named The Cobalt Café."

The audience chuckled. Gem had them right where she wanted them and it was clear they were all waiting with anticipation to hear her newest song. She seemed so protective of the music room and her songs that even Mia didn't dare sneak a peek at what Gem wrote. She couldn't wait to hear her friend's song.

"So without further adieu, I give you Bleed, written by me and preformed by us, Indigo Sound." Gem turned back to the group and started counting down. Before she could say one word her friends did little rifts on their instruments. Then Gem and Elliott counted "one, two, one two three four."

Gem turned back to her microphone as Vince played a cord and Tamica fingered a few keys on the piano as Elliott rapped his drumsticks together to set the tempo. When the song started proper Vince and Gem were playing similar lines on their dissimilar guitars. Gem was as good as she'd imagined and Vince was still every bit as good as she'd remembered.

When the introduction music was done Gem took one step closer to the microphone, still playing her bass as she leaned in.

"_Well, it's been almost a year to the moment, when I finally realized it was over. And I knew that love wasn't good enough of a reason for me to stay."_

"_Well, I saw you yesterday; you were drivin', and I tried so hard to forget you were alive, and as you passed by I began to cry, over things that I did not say."_

It was very clear to Mia that Gem was singing about her. She wasn't sure how she felt about it but it was done with a flair for telling a story and Mia knew the only one ever likely to know it was about her was Vince. And Gem of course.

"_And hiding beneath my blankets and sheets, I'm finally free. I'm killin' the ghost of you, and I'm close to awakening me."_

Mia liked that part. It wasn't a song about her, it was a song for her. That was why Gem had tossed out the invitation tonight when she never had before. It was like Gem was telling her it was finally over, she was finally free of it all, she'd finally moved on. And that was exactly how she felt. She wanted to laugh out loud with the giddy relief of it.

"_Yeah, yeah. So I'm takin' my heart and I'm gettin' me out, and love's something that I wouldn't wanna live without. So I'm takin' my heart and I'm gettin' me out, on my own, my own, my own."_

It was almost like Gem was telling her it was ok to go out and have fun again, to love again. That she wasn't cheating her brother or Letty or Leon or even Jesse out of anything by beginning to live her life the way she wanted to again. It wasn't right to live your life without feelings or only feeling sad and angry all the time. It was time it stopped and she'd made steps in the right direction. It was like Gem knew she'd been guilty as hell about it and had written the song as a message.

"_Well, it takes all of my strength to be stable, and I force your insults under the table. And if you were wise you would compromise, and allow me to live my way."_

Mia also recognized that verse for what it was; a poke at Vince for how he'd talked to them the night of their big fight. It was all water under the bridge now but it was clear it still lingered on Gem's mind. It had lingered on Mia's too. She was glad she was going to get to go back to school in September so that she wouldn't end up like Vince had thrown at her. Gem wouldn't either, if her performance tonight was anything to go by.

"_'Cause I am not a force to be reckoned with and you don't have a clue what you're messin' with. And you can't see to the best in me, 'cause it's more than your heart can take."_

Mia had a feeling Gem was talking about both of them now. She didn't know what had gone down between Vince and Gem to relate the lyrics but she did know she felt like it might be relevant to how Dom had left her behind. Gem's songs were very personal and she understood now why her blond friend would never let them see what she'd written in advance of her performance.

"_And hiding beneath my blankets and sheets, I'm finally free. I'm killin' the ghost of you, and I'm close to awakening me._

"_I'm awakening me._

"_I'm awakening me, yeah._

"_I'm awakening me. Yeah, yeah."_

Mia could pin point the exact time Gem noticed her because Gem winked with a wrinkle of her nose when she spotted her at the back of the room. She continued singing with a huge grin.

"_So I'm takin' my heart and I'm gettin' me out, and love's something that I wouldn't wanna live without. So I'm takin' my heart and I'm gettin' me out, on my own, my own, my own._

"_I'm takin' my heart and I'm settin' you free. And, baby, now you're just another song to me. And the edge of your sword isn't sharp enough for me to bleed, yeah yeah."_

She drawled out bleed in that punk rocker chick style Mia loved to hear on someone with a voice like Gem's; full of attitude in just the right way and then filled in the rest of the music singing na na na.

When she was done singing the audience erupted into applause. Mia joined them enthusiastically. The perfect song to put a period to a chapter of her life that wasn't worthy to be anything but just another song. None of their swords were sharp enough to break her skin anymore, to make her bleed. She hoped Gem could say the same thing about unthinking Vince and his callous words.

Vince wasn't as slow as Gem thought if she thought he didn't know parts of that song were a message to him. He got it loud and clear. He also wasn't sure if he was amused by it or pissed off. He was going to have to settle for undecided for the moment. He unplugged his guitar from the amp and started off the stage. When he realized he was alone he looked back.

Tamica had called Gem over to the piano and the two were talking in hushed tones. Gem nodded almost reluctantly and moved back up to the mic as Tamica pulled her own mic back down toward her.

Vince looked around the room and spotted Mia at the back, sitting alone. He headed her way, unsure if he was mad she had breached his sanctum where he was free of her presence and the guilt it invoked or happy she was getting out of the house herself.

He was still uncomfortable around Gem and the added tension was making him even shorter with the girls than normal. Something had to give but once the heat of the moment had left, his cool head was back to thinking a woman like Gem didn't need a mess like him in her life.

He sat heavily at the table with Mia. "You enjoy the song?"

"I did actually. She's really good."

"She is. Too good for this dinky little place and too good for washed up people like me to be playing her music." Where in god's name had that come from?

"If you'd stop putting yourself down for five minutes and let Gem make up her own mind you'd get a lot farther."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't. I see the way you two look at each other and the way you don't. The don't part is on purpose, like you're both scared of what you'll see if you really look at the other."

"Mia, you know everything there is to know about me, about us, about what we've done. You can't honestly think the best thing for a girl like her is to be tied to a guy like me. She's better off without me. She'd be better off if she'd never gotten involved with us at all."

"If she never had than I'd be at home crying my heart out right now while you were here busy getting loaded so you didn't have to remember any of it. I guess I'm still old school enough to think she was sent here for a reason and you're busy doing everything you can to avoid seeing it."

Tamica's voice across the PA system saved Vince from coming up with an answer. "What up guys? I wrote a new song myself but I don't think I can pull it off lyrically myself so I've basically bribed and guilt tripped my girl Gem here into singing for me."

Mia and Vince both turned back to the stage. Gem had pushed her bass behind her back. Tamica was playing the piano as Gem hummed into the mic.

"_Some people live for the fortune."_ Gem took the microphone into her hands as she forced her voice to go deeper than she would normally sing. It lent her a smoky tone that wasn't truly her sound, but still sounded good. Just different. Tamica had told her how she wanted the song to sound and Gem was doing her best to accommodate her friend. She was nervous about how she'd sound, singing someone else's song. She was sounding ok so far.

She made it through the song. She attributed it to the fact that Tamica was such a fantastic piano player she just couldn't allow her voice to be the weak link in the chain.

"_Some people want it all. But I don't want nothing at all, if it ain't you baby._

_If I ain't got you baby. Some people want diamond rings. Some just want everything._

_But everything means nothing, if I ain't got you, you, you."_

As the last piano note died away Gem left the stage with a wave to the audience as she headed to the green room. Vince watched her go, unsure if he wanted to go after her and get some answers for questions her song had raised or just let it slide. Mia watched another two performances and then she said good night. By the time Mia left he still wasn't sure which way he wanted to handle the things Gem had said he was sure were about him.

He watched her work, no more sure of what he should do than he was about his ability to keep his vow to Mia and leave Gem the hell alone, whether Mia wanted him to keep it or not.


	5. Paper Bag

Catalyst

By - TempestRaces

Chapter 5 – Paper Bag

Gem fought hard to keep her eyes from straying to Vince as she flitted about the room waiting on everyone but him. She wanted to know if he was watching her, if he looked upset, but she was scared if he caught her looking at him he'd know she thought he might be upset and had reason to be. It was definitely better not to be caught looking at him. However, it was going to be hard to keep from going his way sooner or later. Otherwise it was going to be more than a little obvious she was avoiding him, not merely too busy to stop by as often as she would on a normal night.

It wasn't that she thought she had anything to be ashamed of; she just didn't want to deal with any anger that might be forthcoming. She knew he was smart enough to figure out some of her words were for him. She just didn't know what he'd think about it. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to know. Perhaps she should have let their truce stand and left the song the way it had been before she decided something had to be said about the way Vince talked to her and Mia. But she had never been the girl content to rest on her laurels.

Just as she was about to head his way Barbara walked up to her. "What put your man in such a bad mood tonight?"

_Uh oh! _"I don't know, is he in a bad mood?" Gem's tone was innocent, as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. She decided it wasn't the time to protest Vince wasn't her man.

"Surly as the old days." Barbara frowned with a wrinkle of her nose. "I'm expecting to see the heads he's bitten off start littering the floor any time now."

"Great." Gem sighed. "Could I impose on you to take care of him tonight then?" Gem felt guilty but not enough to back out of her request. "I get enough of his moods at home."

"Of course Sugar, you save me from him often enough to earn a night off every once in awhile. Was the pretty girl with him earlier the famous Mia?"

"Yeah, that was her. I really have to ask Barry about my new hours soon. It's already August and she wants to start class in September."

"Honey, when the kids go back to school we won't be half as busy as we are now anyway. He'll be fine with it. Talk to him soon though, don't spring it on him at the last minute."

"You're right. I'll show up early tomorrow and talk to him about it."

Barbara just headed off toward Vince, shooing Gem off in the opposite direction.

Vince watched the old broad head his way and knew Gem was avoiding him. They all knew he liked to be waited on by Gem and more often than not that was what happened. He decided it wouldn't be a great idea to fight with her inside the club anyway and let it go. He allowed Barbara to wait on him without saying much. He was being careful to limit his intake anyway. Bad things happened when he fought with the girls intoxicated. And boy did he feel a fight with Gem coming on.

By the end of the night Gem was so tired she could hardly stand. Thursdays were always rough for her. She did a quick scan of the bar to confirm all the patrons were gone before she went to collect her purse and jacket from the back room.

"Heading out sweetheart?" Barry asked from where he was doing his nightly deposit.

"Yep, everyone's cleared out. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then. Be careful."

Gem gave Barry a small smile with a little wave and left the bar, Barbara locking the door behind her. As she rounded the corner of the club and had an unobstructed view of the parking lot she saw Vince was once again sitting on her car hood.

"Hey." She called as she walked up to her car, barely able to lift her feet.

"Hey." Vince replied, his expression not boding well for what was to come. Gem braced herself mentally for the onslaught while schooling her outward appearance to remain the same. "What was that?"

"You're going to need to be a lot more specific V, it was a long night."

"Don't 'V' me. I thought we were cool."

"We are cool. I don't know what you're talking about." _Just another lie to add to the growing pile,_ Gem mused.

"You don't? She doesn't know." Vince's voice dropped into a growled murmur. It was a scarier tone than if he had started to yell. He only used that tone when he was really mad.

The question was, was he really mad about her song, or about her lie? Gem closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath while she waited for the fireworks to begin.

"Not really, no. I always leave Thursday nights exhausted, mentally _and_ physically. Any chance we could go into what you're getting at more tomorrow when you get home from work?" It was worth a shot.

"Not a single chance in hell. We're going to talk about it now. Get in the Maxima, we'll talk while I drive home." Vince moved to get off her car as his hand moved toward his pocket.

"I'd rather take my own car home, thanks all the same." Gem's stubborn chin went up a notch. She wasn't going to be ordered around.

"I guess we'll just have to talk right here then."

"Ok, talk away." Gem moved to go around Vince to get into her car. He grabbed her arm as she went past him to stop her travel.

"Where you goin?"

"To sit down in my car. _I've_ been working all night and my feet are tired."

"You can stand another five minutes."

"Why don't you stand and let me sit on my own car then? Who are you to tell me to stand up while you lecture me?" Gem shook his hold off. What about him made her fight back so vehemently? "I don't want to stand here and talk to you anymore."

"Too bad. I don't care if you like it or not. You got some things I want explained. What're you doin, writin' songs about me?"

"Don't flatter yourself Vince," Gem placed a hand on her cocked hip and tried to cop an attitude, "that song was for Mia."

"Parts of it yeah, but there was a big part of it directed at me."

"In your mind maybe." Gem shook her head irately. "This is ridiculous. I'm going home. If you want to brood about this in the parking lot you can do it without me." Gem moved to walk around Vince again.

"Don't you dare walk away from me! We're gonna talk about this."

"No we're not Vince. It's late, I'm tired, and it can wait 'til tomorrow."

"No it can't." Vince decided to bring out the big guns, and get right to the point. "Is that what you think? That I don't see the best of you because I can't take it?"

The hurt in his voice checked her. She turned back to face him with a sigh. "Did you ever stop to think it isn't about how you see me at all? Did it ever occur to you that it could be a commentary on how your supposed friend who abandoned you is still ruining your life even though he's long gone?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Sure you don't. You don't see how you were made to think you were nothing but a follower by Dom for so long you came to believe it, and moreover came to think that was what you liked? Even though when it comes right down to it you sure do love to boss me and Mia around every chance you get."

"I liked it fine! It was Dom's place to be the leader. I didn't want it any different than I had it."

"Really? Than why isn't Mia the one who takes charge? What is it you?"

"Because Mia was worse off than I was after last summer. She wasn't in any shape to pick up the pieces. It had to be me."

Gem ran her hands into her hair, scraping it back from her face as she looked at the gravel she was parked on. She had a lot to say to that, but she didn't how to say it without angering Vince further. Perhaps he needed to be angry; perhaps he needed to hear it. She didn't know a way to tell him without making him mad so maybe he was just going to have to be mad. His whole attitude of being almost oppressed was getting pretty tired out. He had a life to live and it wasn't the rest of the world's fault he refused to get on with it and instead chose to remain mired in the past.

"Mia did ok the two months you weren't around. I mean, she's still alive. She might have had some issues but she coped. You were-by your own admission-stuck in the hospital so you weren't being there for her then. Well, Mia's still alive and the house is still standing. It took her awhile to deal with everything but she did it." Gem left what she really wanted to say off, that having Vince around only to run the garage and go get liquored up every night really hadn't done much to help Mia anyway.

"How would you know? You weren't there."

More defensive attitude. Just what would help the situation, Gem thought sarcastically to herself. She was tired, she was sore, she had no desire to have this fight right now, but she didn't see any way around it. No matter how stubborn she was Vince was ten times more so and he'd end up getting his way. He mostly did, a fact she had learned early and was swiftly learning to resent. Maybe that was why she started to get really angry with him again. The last thing they needed was more anger and attitude but she didn't know how to stop it from coming through. Not with him. He drove her past her ability to stay calm like no one else.

"I didn't have to be there. Everything's been stagnating in the house since back then. Walking into the place is like walking into a time warp." She tossed her hands up in the air for effect before returning them to her hips. "I mean the whole downstairs is still the way it was the last time either of the other two guys who use to live down there with you were home. I'm sorry, sad as it is Jesse isn't ever coming back but you wouldn't even put the boxes of Dom and Letty's stuff in his room. You haven't cleaned up your room since as long as they've been gone. Leaving their stuff out isn't going to bring them back."

"I know that! You want it packed up so bad you do it."

"I don't want it packed up badly at all. I think _you_ can't stand to think of it being boxed up at all though. That's why you want me to do it. You think if I do it then you can close the doors and pretend it's all still there, same as you did with Dominic's room. If you agree it should be packed up and taken care of then you do it. They were your friends. You agree that they're never coming back than you pack up their stuff and put it away."

"This hasn't got anything to do with you saying what you say anyway." Vince showed she was right with her statement.

Gem wondered if he knew he'd just proved her point with his rapid change of subject. Rather than admit he didn't want to pack the stuff up or couldn't or just plain wouldn't he changed the subject in a total one eighty. She decided she wasn't ready or willing to let the topic go. "How doesn't it? Instead of sticking around to be here for you and his sister when things got hard, Dom took off. He abandoned his family. Ever think that might have just a little bit to do with the fact he couldn't stand to see you and Mia deal with the tragedy when he himself couldn't? Ever think his taking off had something to do with the fact now he can be hiding someplace happily pretending nothing happened while he left you here to deal with it? He could be anywhere in the world on some pretty beach or whatever pretending he and Letty are just on a nice vacation while you and Jesse are still working to run his garage every day and Mia is still happily going to school and running her little sandwich counter waiting for Brian to show up with a diamond the size of a small egg and marry her. Dom took the coward's way out. You had it right when you told Mia that."

"Hey, Dom's been through a lot!"

"So have you! So has Mia! So have women whose husbands beat the life out of them and kids who're growing up in the slums. Some of our countries brightest young people come out of the slums because they're determined to get better than they have; they're determined to cope in positive ways. But you insist on dealing with it all on your own in the most counterproductive ways I've ever seen while Dom's off someplace not dealing with any of it. As far as you being the one to deal with everything because Mia couldn't I know for a fact Mia was the one who decided Dom and Letty's stuff had to get packed up.

"I know for a fact Mia was the one who wanted to sell their cars and be done with it. I know you were the one who wanted to keep them all in that dingy little shed out back. If they're never coming back then why do you want to hold on to all their cars? You don't drive them. You're only one man so you can't drive four cars anyway but yet you won't let them go. Could it be that all your protests and posturing about how awful Dominic is just a big cover up for how much you really wish he'd come back? How much you miss him, how much you got use to living in his shadow and how scared you are to be in the light for a change?"

"You want the cars sold I'll sell them!" Vince roared.

"I don't want them sold. I'm just sick and tired of you acting like you've sacrificed yourself selflessly for others. Do you think everyone in the world who does something nice for another person goes home at night and complains about the necessity of doing it? You did a lot for Mia, and I'm not trying to take any of that away from you. But Mia did a lot for herself too and I refuse to take any of that away from her. Why can't you just own up to your own issues and start to try and move beyond them? Why do you have to live in the past? I don't understand why you have to keep on using things that went down almost a year ago as reasons why you can't fully live your life now. If you agree that the basement should be picked up and packed up and that their cars should find new homes where they'll see some use than you take care of it."

"You don't know a thing about it."

"No, you're right, I really don't. I don't know about this unhealthy relationship you had with Dom, or why this Leon guy was so great you hold onto his room like some shrine. That's to say I don't know about it first hand. I might not have been there then but I've been being there now. I've heard plenty though and I can tell you any relationship where someone who's supposed to be your friend takes your possessions and gives them to an acquaintance just to show you can be replaced isn't healthy. I know anyone who would ask what other girls are around to have sex with in front of his long term girlfriend is a sick, mean, nasty bastard."

"It was just a beer."

"No it wasn't. It was _your_ beer." Gem accented her point with a stab of her finger into Vince's chest. "And he took it and gave it to the guy he knew you hated more than anyone else in that moment. And he did it to show you that you were expendable, that other people-namely Brian at that moment-would also like to be his friend, date his sister, and do his biding and that it was all the same to him as long as someone was around to be the underling to his boss. He asked what other girls were around for him to sleep with because he knew it would drive home to Letty that there were a plethora of other girls who would love to sleep with him just for the sake of it. No strings, no commitment, just sex because he was some sort of celebrity in this underground world. But instead of seeing how overbearing and controlling he was you insist on mourning the fact he's gone from your life."

"He was my best friend. Yeah, he had his problems. Yeah, he treated Letty like shit a lot of the time. But there were lots of times that he had my back that he was the only one I could count on. I know Dom did stuff to try and keep us in our place but that was just because Dom had to be in control of every situation. He'd lived through too many out of control situations to have it any other way."

"You buy that?" Gem asked incredulously.

"I know it. You wouldn't know what it was like to grow up without a mom and then watch your dad burn to death when you were eighteen but Dom lived it. He lived through going to jail for doing something stupid when he was barely more than a kid. He couldn't do a thing about any of it and it made him unable to let go of control of any other situation."

"You're blaming how he is on his lack of parents?"

"A lot of it, yeah."

"Where are yours?"

"Come again?" Vince looked up at Gem.

"You heard me. Where are your parents?"

"Never knew my dad. Mom died when I was sixteen. What does that have to do with anything?"

"You never had a dad, Dom never had a mom. Your mom died when you were sixteen, Dom's dad didn't die until he was eighteen. So using his lack of parents doesn't hold water as a reason why he's the way he is. You should be the same way, but by your own admission you're a follower and he was a leader. He's a control freak and you'd rather let life ride."

"My dad didn't burn to death right in front of me."

"I'm not saying Dom had it easy, I'm just saying there are two ways to react to adversity. You can either take it at face value, learn from it, grow because of it and move on with life. Or you can use it to create a 'poor me' story and try to play off it for an easy ride and handouts from others for the rest of your life. Dom went the last way. He had everyone making excuses for why he was the way he was by blaming his poor childhood years instead of some flaw he wasn't willing to correct within himself. No one expected too much from him because he encouraged them not to. From what Mia says her dad was great."

"He was. He was awesome."

"So Dom had a stable home life right up until his father died. It wasn't like he was beaten and abused his whole life."

"When Dom lost his right to race on the track he lost almost everything that ever mattered to him at all. He lost his father, his future, his right to follow in his father's footsteps. You don't know what that was like for him. You're here trying to live your dream. Dom watched his die at eighteen."

"Then it was time for Dom to make new dreams, obtainable dreams. Not take his frustration and anger out on his friends and family. Not act like a jackass because he knew everyone around him would write it off on his traumatic past."

Vince stood up off the car and started to pace around. He turned back to Gem. "You weren't there that day. One of the last memories I have is of being in that field dying with Brian trying to save my life and Mia crying. You didn't see the look on Dom's face. He felt so guilty; he thought it was all his fault. He took that all on himself."

"If he was the leader that was his job. If you say he's the one who always stepped up to be the leader than you can't pick and chose when he should have acted like one." Vince was asking for quarter on Dom's behalf and Gem refused to give it. He didn't have any coming, not in her mind. "He got you into that situation."

"No, I got myself into that situation. I could have said no. I could have just not done it. But Dom was the leader and he said we were doing it so we did. But I could have backed out any time I wanted to."

Gem looked up at Vince in shock. He'd just taken responsibility for his own actions. Perhaps they were making headway. "Ok, that's a valid point. But it's also a valid point that instead of encouraging you and nurturing you all strike out on your own he fostered this sense of dependence on his leadership you all had. Perhaps you played into the follower role too blindly but I think Dom also took advantage of the leader role too much. He knew you'd do anything he asked of you and he used that to his advantage."

"Maybe he did but I didn't do anything to stop it. I told you, I was happy that way."

"So you say. I think happy is your word for scared to live any other way after depending on someone else to pick your battles for so long."

Vince gave her an angry look. There she went, making him think of things he'd rather leave dead and buried. Here came the need to stick his tongue into the sore and poke at it to see if it still hurt, over and over again. And of course it still hurt, time after time. Because if you kept poking it, picking at it and disturbing it then it would never heal. "None of this has anything to do with the song you wrote."

Gem tossed her head back and shrieked in pure frustration. "You are the singly most frustrating person I've ever met. I've just spent the last twenty minutes explaining to you how it was relevant to this situation, where the basis of it all came from. You not liking it doesn't make it any less true."

"To be honest I thought it was about me because of what happened the night you were home sick."

"What would that have to do with anything?"

"I thought you were mad that I never tried to finish what we started."

Gem blushed when reminded of the night Vince was talking about. It was imprinted in graphic detail in her memory and even now she could think back and imagine the look in his eyes when he'd looked at her that night. There'd been a consuming desire there to match the one she'd felt for him. She'd never seen such a look of hunger before, as much as she was sure it had been equally matched by her for him. She could sense from the onset he'd been fighting whatever it was he felt for her. There was something there. Too bad neither of them seemed sure if they wanted it or not.

In truth she'd been relieved he'd never expected the natural conclusion to the start they'd made. Once the heat of the moment had worn off she'd been unsure if she really wanted to get involved with Vince after all. As the conversation they were now having was showing, he really did have a lot of emotional baggage. It wasn't going to be put aside in a few days or weeks. He really should, by rights, be in counselling for his issues. Gem really didn't feel qualified to deal with him, to try and help him work through his problems. It was just too bad she didn't seem to be able to walk away from him either.

"I was curious but I guess I just figured you'd changed your mind." Gem stammered, very uncomfortable with the topic. She looked over at Barry's truck while she wanted for him to answer, unable to look directly at him.

He knew she was embarrassed. He was even perceptive enough to know she was-on some levels-afraid that once the heat of the moment was over he'd realized he didn't really want to be with her; that it had all just been the heat of the moment. So in short, he knew what he was about to say was a bad idea. Why he was going to say it anyway he didn't know, other than she'd made him so angry. So what if she was right? Didn't she know he didn't want to think about the things she'd brought up? Didn't she know how painful it was for him to think about it at all?

He knew the right course of action was to give in to the fact she was right, he was hiding from the world, hiding from the knowledge he should just get over the fact that his life then was not his life now but that his new life could be just as nice, even more rewarding when all was said and done and let the past go and just admit it all. Then to take the two steps that would have her within reach, take her close and let his cheek find the silky slide of her hair under it the way he wanted. To admit he wanted her in his new life or there wasn't any point starting a new life at all. Too bad he'd never been that smart.

"Well, I guess I had."

He turned around and walked over to his car. He fought the need clawing at him to turn around and see what she was doing now. Was she standing where he'd left her? Was she in her car? _Was she crying?_ He almost lost his battle not to look but managed to get into his car without turning around. When he backed out and started out of the lot he had to drive by her car. She wasn't standing outside it anymore but he couldn't see her inside it either. Had she gone running into the bar to find her older friend?

What was done was done, Vince decided with a sigh as he turned out of the lot onto the road. He fought the need to slap his forehead with his hand. He knew he might as well start looking for a new place to live now, because as soon as Mia found out what he'd said she was either going to kill him or kick him out.

Truth told he wasn't sure he belonged in the house with the girls anyway. Gem was just going to be a constant temptation to him. If they were in the same house he was he wasn't going to be able to leave her alone. Something he was now sure she would want him to do. He'd made sure of that fact. So why wasn't he happier about it?

_Mission accomplished, dumb ass_.

Gem allowed her tears to come only after she got into her car and doubled over the steering wheel. Everyone smart enough to see the real situation was right. There was no way a guy like Vince could really be interested in a girl like her. She'd let the fact he always seemed like he needed someone to care about him lead her to believe that someone could be her.

She cried out her broken heart into her steering wheel for a few minutes before self preservation kicked in. The last thing she wanted was for Barry and Barbara to come out and find her still at the club. They'd know something was up as soon as they saw her. If they found her she'd have nothing but another hour of explaining to do before she could slink off to her bed to hide. That was all she wanted. She'd always felt the need to lick her deep wounds in private.

It was one of the things that made her a great liar, the way she could keep her emotions off her face. Then throw Vince into the mix and she couldn't keep the way she felt off her sleeve. She started the car and it sputtered to life. "You sound as bad as I feel." Gem said to her car as she put the transmission into drive. It clunked into gear with a loud noise. "You never did that before." Gem said apprehensively looking down at the little glowing letter D on her consol.

She let her foot off the brake, holding her breath. The car moved out of the spot slowly, just like it always did. Sputtering just a bit, sounding like it wasn't quite sure if it was going to live or die this time. She reached the gate of the parking lot and signalled left, pulling out slowly into the traffic.

One thing about L.A. that never ceased to amaze her was how busy it was almost all the time. It was two am on Thursday night but there were still people everywhere. Not that there weren't people out and about in her home town late at night, but in L.A. you'd almost say the nights were as hectic as the days. The only place the traffic thinned out was along the highway she had to take to get back to echo park. So in short the traffic thinned out when you least wanted it to. When you were driving along in the middle of no where was where there wasn't another soul around. Meaning if her car ever broke down along that stretch of road she'd have no choice but use her emergency cell phone and call for someone to come after her.

For right now she was still in Canoga Park proper however, and there were clubs all over the place still open. For the first time ever the lure of the alcohol easy way out called to her. She pulled into the next place that was still open she passed and parked the car. Glad for the fact Barry didn't do uniforms but let them wear their own clothes, she stepped out of her car and looked up at the neon sign advertising the name of her chosen establishment. After a minute of standing in the parking lot it occurred to her that her Honda was the only car in the parking lot.

It wasn't to say there was no one else around, because that wasn't the case. It was just that all the other modes of transport in the parking lot had two less wheels and three less seats.

She'd landed herself at a Harley club. "Maybe if you were more like the girls he's used to, the girls from that racing thing he use to do you'd have a chance. Your mama always said you were too nice for your own good. Nick use to have one of these things and he's a nice guy." _He's also your brother_. How crazy were you getting when you answered back to yourself? "How much different can it be from work? It's just another bar."

On that note she pulled the door open and walked in. There were nights when she found the Cobalt smoky. It was nothing compared to this. You could cut the purple haze in the air with a knife it was so thick. Everyone in the joint, including the women, seemed to be drinking beer directly out of the bottle. Those not drinking beer were drinking shots and the only bottles of liquor behind the bar were labelled Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Johnny Walker on a red label, Johnny Walker on a black label and Jose Cuervo. Of course the obligatory bottles of cheap rum and vodka were suspended over the bar, allowing shots to be easily dispensed.

Gem was betting they didn't sell red wine in this bar. She started over toward the neon lit center of the club. As she walked across the expanse of dirty floor between the establishment door and the bar she fought against her need to turn tail and run right back out the door. She refused to be a coward. She had decided to get drunk in this bar and get drunk she would. With a deep breath for courage she finished the trip to the bar. She felt like she could feel every eye in the place on her.

She leaned on the bar before the look of the bar made her rethink that decision and she stood back a fraction away from it. She looked around once again. Most of the women were wearing belly baring cropped tops with various motorcycle logos on them. A lot of the men had bushy beards and long hair, although there were many clean cut, younger men too. It was clear that some of the young women were hanging off the older men just for the status that position afforded them. There were also a few couples around the room that were obviously truly in love.

That wasn't to say there weren't a few single men and women around, because there were. Gem felt woefully inadequate next to the made up perfection of the other women. There were a great number of women with shockingly blonde hair and heavily applied make up. While there were a few more 'normal' looking girls Gem still felt very out of place. She was the most subdued dresser, hair stylist, and make up artist in the whole bar.

The bartender finally noticed her. "What can I getcha?"

"Um, what would you recommend to someone who normally drinks red wine?" Gem looked up, uncertainty clouding her eyes.

"Nothing we got little lady. 'Fraid everything we got is a bit stronger than that."

"Ok then gimme a shot of whatever Jose Cuervo is."

"You sure?"

"Um hum." Gem answered, biting her bottom lip. The bartender poured her shot and set it in front of her. "How much?"

"On the house this time." The entertainment of watching her drink tequila for the first time was worth a few shots.

With a shrug she tossed down the shot. She promptly started to cough. The leather clad gentleman closest her started to thump her back. "First time with hard liquor sweetheart?"

Gem could only nod, her eyes watering. When she thought she could speak she cleared her throat first. "I normally don't drink to get drunk."

"What changed your mind tonight?"

"A man."

"Figures." The man signalled to the bartender to rack up another round of shots. "Here. Take a deep breath first, try to just let it slide down."

"Ok, here goes." Her second attempt was just as disastrous as the first. As her new friend patted her back she continued to cough. "Maybe I'll try one of those Corona things next."

"Ok."

While the beer didn't make her cough it did make her wrinkle her nose in distaste. "How does Vince down these like water? That is so gross."

"Stick to the hard stuff sugar. Try the Johnny Black." One of the older women said as she walked up.

"Ok." The bartender handed over the shot of scotch. Gem downed it. She was starting to feel very detached from her nose, for some reason. She tried to touch it and missed, almost poking herself in the eye. The drinks didn't burn like they had as they slid down her throat anymore either.

There wasn't a person in the bar who didn't wonder how the naive blonde had ended up in their bar. As they all gathered around to listen to her someone finally asked the question that had the whole sad tale pouring forth from Gem's lips.

"So then he drove away and I had to leave before Barry came out and I was still sitting there because he would have had to know all about it and I didn't want to tell him so I left but then I decided because Vince is always getting drunk to forget his troubles that maybe I would and this was the first open bar after I decided." Gem's habit of babbled over explaining things got worse, not better, while she was drunk.

"You work at the Cobalt." One of the men offered as the realization dawned on him. Barry was an old friend. He wondered if the old dude still had his Harley stashed in a barn someplace.

"Yes I do. So I came in here to get drunk."

"Well sweetheart, I think you managed." Some of the guys shared a smile over how very intoxicated their new, young charge was.

"Well my brother Nicky use to have a motorcycle before he went into the air force."

"I don't know how to tell you this Miss Gem but we're about to close."

"Oh that's ok. I should get home before Mia worries about me. It must be three am already."

"It's gone past that a bit sugar. It's four."

"Four? I've been here for two hours already? I have to go." Gem stood up and walked unsteadily toward the door. The guys watched her go, trying to get her keys out of her pocket.

"Someone has to go after her. We can't let the little bit drive in the shape she's in. She's so drunk she doesn't even know she's drunk."

"I say we all run her home and teach that Vince punk a lesson about nice girls and how you treat them."

"I just know someone has to take her."

"Let's go." The man affectionately known as Big Al stood up from his stool. He was the leader of their particular chapter. The whole club filed out of the bar behind Gem.

"We decided we can't let you drive home." One of the other men said as he walked up to Gem.

"That's good because I don't remember which of these keys is for my car." Gem said as she held up her keychain by the tag. "I'm going to be sick tomorrow aren't I?"

"Yeah." The biker said with a smile.

"Thought so." Gem said with a resigned look on her face.

"Ok, I want you to put this on." He handed over a helmet to Gem. She pulled the little bowl helmet on over her hair. The clean cut biker who handed it over had to do up the chin strap for her. "Ok, now get on the back seat there."

"I can't ride this thing."

"Your sole responsibility is to sit there behind me and hang on. Can you do that?"

"I think so." Gem swung her leg up to get it over the saddle of the bike and promptly almost fell over. Luckily the bike's owner broke her fall.

"Easy sweetheart. Here we go." He held Gem steady while she found a comfortable seat on the bike.

"What about my car. I can't leave it here all night."

"I'll be fine here sweetheart. No one will disturb it." He pulled a vest out of the luggage compartment of the Harley bike and put it on. The front had some insignias on it and his name.

"Eddie." She read. "What does all the other stuff stand for?"

"Well, MC is motorcycle club."

"What about the 81?"

"Come back and ask me again sometime when you're sober. You wouldn't get it right now." Eddie told her, chuckling.

"Ok."

"Ok, let's get you home." Eddie mounted his bike and the rest of his friends joined him. They all started up their bikes and the roar was deafening. Gem had given them her address and they roared off down the road toward her house.

"I just don't know where she could be. She's never this late getting home." Mia said as she wrung her hands in the living room. Vince watched her pace from his favourite chair. He was too chicken to let Mia in on the reasons why Gem might not want to come home. He was just as worried about why she actually hadn't made it as Mia was.

"I don't know either Mia. If she's not home in another few minutes we'll drive toward the club and look for her." To say he felt like the lowest piece of crap on planet earth in that moment was a sad understatement. What if something had happened to her? It would be all his fault, for not only putting her into such a state but leaving her alone that way.

"I'm just so worried."

A low rumbling noise started out in the distance but rapidly moved closer. Mia crossed to the window of the living room. She simply stood there in her house coat for a moment before one of her hands flew to her throat. "Ohmygod."

"What? What is it?" Vince asked as he jumped up.

"A group of men in leather on motorcycles have Gem."

Vince joined Mia in the window. Sure enough about thirty odd guys on bikes were pulling up out front of the house. Most of the doubly occupied ones had leather clad women on the backs. However, one of them had Gem. Vince watched as the large male in front of Gem got off his Harley and helped Gem dismount off the back of his bike.

Vince fought back a snarl. If it was just the one guy he'd already be out there with swollen knuckles. He'd owned a motorcycle once and he remembered how personal it was to ride with someone.

Her arms had been around that guy the whole way home from where ever. She might have had her cheek pressed to his back, her legs pressed behind his. Didn't that motorcycle riding asshole know that Gem was _his_?

_No she's not, you told her you didn't want her to be._

_It was just because of what she made me think, what she made me feel. It wasn't real._

_You didn't tell her that._

He pulled open the front door as Gem and her apparent new friend came up the walk. The vest wearing man was practically carrying Gem.

"Does this young lady live here?" The man, whose vest proclaimed him Eddie, asked.

"Yes she does." Mia cried as she rushed forward. "Where did you find her?"

"She spent some time drowning her sorrows in our club this evening. We didn't have the heart to put the poor little thing out after her story. Some asshole broke her little heart tonight." Eddie smiled at Mia. "I'd put her to bed with a bucket if I was you. We gave her quite a few shots of tequila and whiskey before we found out she'd never had hard liquor before."

"Oh dear." Mia frowned. "Well thank you so much for bringing her home."

"No problem. When she's feeling better you tell her she can come see us any time. We have a bike run coming up and she's more then welcome to ride with me if she'd be interested in coming along."

Mia looked from Eddie to Vince. There was a not so subtle undercurrent running between the two large men. What role had Vince played in Gem's big night?

"You tell her too, that if she has any more trouble with what we talked about tonight she should just come let her buddy Eddie know because I'll take right good care of it for her."

"Ok. Thanks again." Mia answered and Eddie turned to leave. Mia shut the door, still feeling the waves of tense anger pouring off Vince. A few moments later they heard a roar as thirty motorcycles started up out front of their house.

"The Hells Angels. Gem stumbled on the Hells Angels. Great." Vince sighed.

"It felt like Eddie was threatening you." Mia's eyes narrowed as she speculated, showing she already knew too much for comfort but not enough to satisfy her.

Vince ran a hand through his already mussed hair. "About that." He sighed as he trailed off and looked at his bare feet.

"What did you do?" Mia asked, her voice raised in anger. Gem picked that moment to become conscious again.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

She did look a bit green, Vince mused. He realized he knew that look. _Oh shit!_ He scooped Gem up and ran up to the bathroom. She was violently ill. While she was heaving Vince held her hair back out of her face and when he thought she was done for a moment he took one of her elastics and clumsily tied her hair back out of the way.

"So, Johnny Black and tequila huh?" He asked on a sigh as he watched Gem try not to cry from her position sitting on the floor.

"Well, getting drunk to forget works for other people so." Gem stopped with a shrug and then shuddered.

"I thought we'd already agreed I was stupid and selfish."

"You left off a mean, bastard jerk."

"Yeah, I guess I did. Listen, I owe you some things, namely an apology and an explanation, but for now I think you should just go to bed. Mia can help you change and we'll put the bucket beside your bed."

Gem nodded. Vince had to help her up and to her room. "Ok, I'll get Mia."

"No." Gem flopped onto the bed. "Too much moving. Too much effort."

"You can't keep your shoes on all night." Vince said as he reached down to pull them off her feet.

"Ok, the shoes can go." Gem tossed an arm over her eyes to block out the ceiling light. She felt her socks follow her shoes onto the floor.

Vince looked over at the door of the room and saw Mia had finally followed him up the stairs. She was leaning on the door frame watching him with a look of total disgust on her face. She'd heard enough to know that Vince was behind yet another fallout in the house. Vince tried to motion Mia into the room so she could help Gem with the rest of her clothes. Mia shook her head. Vince crossed the room to her.

"Help me out here and at least help her into something more comfortable."

"You made the mess, why don't you clean it up for a change?"

"She's your friend. Do you honestly think she wants me helping her right now?"

"I guess that is something that you and her need to work out. Good luck." Mia turned around and crossed the hall to her own room, shutting the door firmly behind her. Vince turned back to Dom's room with a sigh. _No, Gem's room_, he reminded himself.

As he walked back into the room he heard Gem groan. He sighed as he crossed back over to her side.

_All your fault_. _Just like so many other fuck ups._

All he could do was try to make her comfortable for the night. He knew from experience there was no sense talking to her while she was still inebriated. There was no talking to him. Of course he was a mean drunk, always had been. It was why he knew it was lucky for Brian Mia had intervened the night Dom had brought him home. Because if she hadn't he would have done away with 'the buster' for good. Leon and Jesse always just egged him on. It fell to Mia and Dom to be the voice of reason. Letty was just as bad as Leon when it came to watching fights not stopping them.

"Ok, come on, sit up." Vince tried to sound friendly and encouraging.

"Why?" Gem asked petulantly.

"So I can help you change out of your clothes. Mia says you can't sleep like that."

"I don't intend to sleep. I intend to pass out." Gem answered, opening her eyes into slits.

"Ok, before you pass out you need to change. Come on, you'll 'pass out' better."

Gem sat up with a groan. "Ok, just leave and I'll change."

"How 'bout I turn my back and let you try to change on your own? Then, should something go wrong I'll still be right here."

"Whatever."

Vince turned his back to the room and Gem got slowly out of her bed and made her way unsteadily to her dresser. She got out a pair of her shorts and a tank top and changed quickly as she could. She felt like she was moving through water, her movements felt sluggish and uncoordinated.

"You decent yet?"

"Yeah." Gem answered as she started back to her bed carefully.

"Ok, just get in bed and when you wake up things'll look better."

"Ummmmm." Gem made a non-committal noise as she allowed Vince to help her under her sheets and lay down, pulling her pillow under her head.

"Night." Vince said as he started toward the door and turned out the light.

"V?"

"Yeah?" He asked from the doorway.

"Why did you say what you said? Is it true?"

Vince sighed as he felt his shoulders slump, his frame silhouetted by the hall light showed his hanging head and stooped posture. To the girl in the bed he was nothing but a dejected outline of black against the light from the hall. "I think we should wait until tomorrow to have this discussion."

"I'd rather know now." Gem replied in a soft, thready voice.

Vince crossed back over to the side of her bed and sat on the edge. He sighed tiredly. How could he explain what had happened, what he'd said? How he really felt. He wasn't someone who talked about their feelings, who had to share every little thing with someone else.

He might have told Gem his background story but he'd largely left how he'd felt about the events out. He just didn't talk about feelings. "You sure you're gonna remember this tomorrow? I won't tell it twice."

"I'll remember."

"I didn't mean it."

"Than why did you say it?"

"Because you made me mad when you said all that other stuff."

"Why?"

"Because you were right. You were right about almost all of it and it hurt. You made me think about things I didn't want to think about and because I was hurting I retaliated against you to make you hurt."

Gem yawned. "That's not the smartest thing I ever heard." She was still feeling the effects of the liquor enough not to moderate her speech. She settled down farther into her bed, pulling the blankets up around her head.

"I'm not the smartest guy you ever met either."

"I think you try to convince people you're not smart so they don't expect too much from you."

Vince reeled at her incite. There she went again, making him think about things she'd rather leave alone. "Maybe I do." He brushed a stray chunk of her hair back out of her face. "I think you should go to sleep now."

"Mmmm." She replied.

"'Night." He leaned down and kissed her forehead softly and moved to stand up. He thought better of it after a moment and turned back to Gem. "Would you mind if I stayed here for a little while, to make sure you're ok?"

"No." Gem answered, already half asleep.

Kicking off his shoes Vince lay back on the bed, lying on top of the sheets of her bed. He didn't intend to sleep there, just to stay for an hour or so to make sure Gem was going to be ok.

Half an hour after Mia had told Vince to handle his own issues she cautiously opened her own door. The hall light was still on. She walked into the hall and crossed to the open door of Gem's room. She peaked in and promptly did a double take.

Vince was asleep in Gem's room, one arm thrown carelessly over Gem as he lay curled up behind her, both of them asleep. With a soft smile Mia closed the bedroom door and turned off the hall light before returning to her own room and falling back into the sleep of the righteous. She'd been right to make Vince clean up his own mess for once.

Vince woke up early on Friday slightly disorientated as to where he was. Why was it sunny? He lived in the basement. There wasn't a lot of sun to be found in his room. He realized he was in Gem's room right around when he realized he'd slept in all his clothes. That was why there was sun. He was upstairs and because Gem hadn't exactly been thinking when she'd gone to bed no one had remembered to close the curtains.

He looked down at Gem. She was still asleep and Vince had a funny feeling she was going to wish she never woke up again when she finally did. Before he went to get ready for work he set a glass of water and two aspirin on the nightstand beside the bed with a note that said 'take me'.

He couldn't help but think even after they'd talked a bit last night his peace offering was going to be too little too late. She'd been more upset than he'd even realized to go out and drink the way she had. She wasn't the kind of person who drank for more than social reasons. She had her good reasons he knew, and it only drove it home even more sharply how badly he'd upset her and thrown her off balance with his hasty, cruel words.

He'd been hiding behind his bad temper for a very long time and he wasn't finding it easy to let it go. But he knew it was a shield, just like letting Dominic pick his fights had been and just like his dumb act still was. He used a lot of devices to avoid reality and dealing with the tribulations that tended to come with it. But ultimately who was he helping? Not himself. Not really. Not his friends, or his family. What was left of it that was.

Maybe if he made an honest effort to change Gem would forgive him and the girls wouldn't force him out of their lives. Perhaps Gem was right and Mia didn't really need him anymore but thinking Mia did need him was one of the only things keeping him going most days.

He ran down to his room, took a quick shower and got dressed hastily. He was out the door headed toward the shop inside of half an hour and he arrived a few minutes early. He wasn't ready to look too hard at what he was running away from. As he pushed into the shop he was greeted by Cory and Bill calling good morning. No matter how often he told them they didn't need to be in until eight they still showed up by seven thirty. How he'd managed to find two young people who really loved the work he'd never know.

It was almost like having Letty and Jesse to work with again. Leon liked his job but the simple fact was Leon was just too damn mellow and even tempered to get all that excited about going to work. He just got up and went because it was easier than not and because he likely enjoyed the company. Letty and Jesse however loved their jobs in the shop. It showed in how very good at the work Jesse had been. He'd had a real knack for designing and building cars that worked better than expected no matter how off the wall the mish mash of parts seemed.

No engine they'd built since they'd lost Jesse had turned out quite as well as they had before. Cory was one hell of a smart kid, and with a little work he'd be really good at what he did. But he still wasn't Jesse. And he never would be.

Vince even knew it wasn't fair to wish he was Jesse or try to change him to be more like him. Cory was Cory. He was good at what he did. It was just that what he did was different from what Jesse did and Vince missed Jesse more than he ever let on to anyone. Jesse had been the goofy little brother to Vince's tough older brother and he knew Jesse had looked up to him. He'd been about the only one who had.

Bill was older than Cory and he didn't have the vision Cory did for new and innovative concepts. Cory was unique, he could see ahead to the big picture of what a build could be. Bill was a steady, dependable worker. He wasn't into the import racing scene as much as Cory was, and even Vince still was in a lot of ways. But he'd worked for a number of years at a few different dealerships and he really knew his way around a car. Bill reminded Vince of no one from his previous life. If he had to pick someone Bill was close to he'd pick Leon, just because it took a lot to get either of them going and both were dependable and team oriented.

"Hey C." Cory called as Vince walked into the shop area from the waiting room.

"Hey." Vince said back as he walked over to the rack on the wall containing all the pending jobs. "Anything come in to do yet?"

"Some guy named Hector called and said he wants you to look at his Civic. He's coming by later. Other than that, just a few oil changes so far. But it's Friday so you know it'll pick up soon. Just wait 'til people realize they could be racing tonight, but only if their cars are in peek shape."

"I figure you're right. Fridays are normally pretty steady." Vince said as he picked up the keys to one of the cars waiting for a oil, lube and filter and went to the lot to swing it in. Just another day of one monotonous job after another. He missed the days where Friday afternoon would have been more about the team getting their cars ready for racing than about helping riced out losers attempt to win against people who put in their own wrench time.

"Say C?"

"Wha?" Vince looked up at Cory from his position under the car he was working on.

"I got the 300zx done last night. I'm gonna test run it after work. You comin over?"

"Hell yeah. You finished it last night?"

"Yeah. It started up. I figure we might need to do some last minute tuning once it's running but other than that it's done."

"That's great." Vince finished what he was doing under the car and rolled out from under it. He patted Cory on the back.

"Yeah, and since I won't be needing it anymore you can have your Silvia back." Cory looked like he thought this was a great thing. Maybe it would be a great thing if it had been his car and was missing it.

Vince didn't know what he was going to do with Letty's car. He'd given it to Cory on loan while the kid had been rebuilding his older brother's wrecked 300zx. Now Cory was giving it back. That meant he'd have Dom's RX-7, Letty's Silvia, Jesse's Jetta, and Leon's Skyline. All of them like orphaned children with no one to love them and drive them. He had to go sit down as he finally accepted the fact that he couldn't hold on to all the cars forever. There was no point.

His friends were not coming back. If they planned on it they would have done it by now. If they ever did it would likely be years in the future and the cars would be ruined from sitting unused for so long. Letting go of those cars wasn't going to be easy. There were so many memories tied up in each one. Each of the team's cars was so personal it was just like an extension of the owner.

Dom's 93 RX-7 R1 touring. A present from his father the year he turned seventeen. They'd spent so many hours over that car together, learning to tune, learning rotaries, learning about life. The best teacher of patience in a man was rebuilding a rotary engine in a hurry to make that weekend's races and on the first turn of the key listening to the thing cough and sputter as it refused to start, as if saying _fuck you pal, you wanna rush me than you can just fuckin rebuild me again!_

Dom's father had taken them to their first drags in that car. Dom had raced it in the open drag youth classes before he'd ever taken to the streets, all under this father's guidance and with his full permission. It had been a different car back then, back before Dom had the coin to afford Veilside body kits and Veilside rims.

They'd decided to open DT precision automotive because of building that car. They never knew, as they made big plans over the 13-rew engine revealed by the open hood that they'd open it sooner than they ever thought, closing Mr. Toretto's shop after his death to do so.

Letty's Silvia. Well, Silvia conversion. What had started out modestly as a little 240sx had expectations of grandeur and realized them, ending up as a full s14 Silvia conversion, right down to the strawberry headlights and SR20DET engine. Little Letty Rodriguez wanted that car more than almost anything in the world. And so, of course, when it got to the point that Dominic wanted little Letty more than almost anything in the world he bought the car for her. Dropped an SR20DET into it for her and made sure she could race just a well as any of the guys.

Letty'd gone from being the annoying tag along to a valuable ally while they were working on cars. She had little hands and arms that seemed to be able to snake into the most unlikely places that a grown man's hands and arms couldn't get. She was almost as strong as him and Leon anyway. Vince couldn't count how many 'lost' wrenches, sockets and parts her girlie little hands had retrieved for him from the inside of fenders and down behind battery boxes. He couldn't recall how many skanks had found out the hard way her girlie little hands held a man sized punch either.

It had always fallen to him to look out for Letty. At first Dom was too upset over the attention Mr. Toretto gave her and how good she was in the shop to want her around and then he'd been too busy pretending that same thing. Letty hadn't come from much at home and Vince had known someone had to look out for her. She didn't have a brother like Dom to do it, not like Mia. Maybe that was why he'd always thought he was in love with Mia. She didn't need him to be her brother, not like Letty, so he didn't see himself in that light when it came to Mia. Letty was a different story. There had been a few times in the past where Dom had finally crossed a line and Vince had had to deal with things. Dom knew he could push his relationship with Letty so far and Vince would mind his own business. But there was a line Dom couldn't cross and the few times he'd crossed it anyway Vince had sure let him know it.

It had taken Dom long enough to see how right for him Letty would be and even once he had he sure hadn't treated her like he knew how special she was half the time. She'd always been like a little sister to Vince. Some times he wasn't sure if he missed Dominic more or if it was Letty he really missed. She'd known him so well. She always knew just when to let a subject drop and when, even though he was grumbling about it, he really wanted to keep talking and get it out.

Of course it wasn't really Dom who'd taught Letty to race. Not really. He tried to teach her just enough while making it look like he wanted her to be really good. But he hadn't. She might have threatened his position as top dog and leader then. But Vince had made sure his little sister could hold her own. Dom never even knew. They kept it a secret in the long run, knowing it would make life easier all around.

Leon's Skyline. A living legend in his shed. Not just because it was a Skyline, which was special enough, but because it was Leon's Skyline. The bright yellow paint and green eyed warior on the side making it instantly recognizable as _that _Skyline. Leon had a sizeable reputation when he'd decided to come meet Dom. Granted, he'd gotten it in New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada not in California but he still had a name for himself. He hadn't gotten and hung onto something like a Skyline by not knowing how to race.

So why than had he basically given it up to work for Dom and be 'that guy who's always on the radios'? Because Leon hadn't had a family in so long he wasn't even sure how real families worked anymore when he'd arrived at the house one night for a party. To Leon, being in the middle of a family was more important than racing any day. He still had his car, he still got to race and work on cars all day long too. But it was understood. He might know he could beat Dom, and Dom might know it too, but it was never to happen. Ever. It was an unspoken rule, but a rule all the same.

That was just how Dom was. He was top dog and no one in his circle better forget it. The one time Vince had decided to race him after they'd had a fight, and managed to beat him none the less, Dom hadn't spoken to him for seven days. He'd taken it very badly. Vince just attributed it to his need to control every situation and had let it go. After Dom had started talking to him again that was.

Vince had thought about parking his car and driving the Skyline for a long time but in the end he couldn't do it. He figured it was for the same reason he really didn't want to clean and pack Leon's stuff. It was still Leon's car. It wouldn't be right to just start driving the car without Leon's permission. Never mind he didn't have a clue where his friend was or if he was ever coming back. Or if they were even still friends, when it all came down to brass tacks. It still just didn't seem right to start driving the car without being told it was ok. He didn't know how he was going to bring himself to sell any of the cars if he couldn't even bring himself to drive them without being told he could.

He'd been left to watch over them without so much as being asked if he minded. Why shouldn't he drive any of them any time he wanted to? It was that logic that had allowed him to lend Cory Letty's car. Letty wasn't around to ask, and there wasn't any sense letting the car go to waste. Besides, of all his friends he knew Letty would be the most reasonable about it. She'd know he wouldn't give her car to anyone who would mistreat it. Besides, she'd always had a soft spot for strays. It showed in her relationship with Jesse and Leon.

Last but not least he still had Jesse's Jetta, perfectly restored with his own two hands. It wasn't really Jesse's anyway. It was his father's. Vince knew he'd be holding onto that one until Jesse's father came to collect the last memento he'd ever have of his only son. Vince had told himself the least he could do for the man was give him the car back in drivable condition, not as a constant reminder of the bullets which had ripped into Jesse's heart and lungs, killing him on the sidewalk over a stupid car race.

So he'd fixed the Jetta himself just as soon as he'd been able physically. He refused all offers of help, fixing the Jetta being something he'd had to do alone. They'd all failed Jesse so badly that fixing up the car wasn't enough. Nothing ever could be. Instead of finding their friend they'd gone on a chase after money. Money might be nice in theory but in reality the pursuit of it ruined more than it fixed. The only exception to the rule had been when he'd allowed Mia to put the graphics back onto it. That had seemed fitting, as it had always been Mia who'd applied the team's decals. She had the gentle touch and patient hands needed to do the job without scratching the perfectly glittering paint under the vinyl. She had the patience to make sure the finish was perfectly cool and clean before starting.

The only ride missing from the picture was the Supra. He'd heard from rumours here and there that Brian had given the Supra to Dom rather than let Dom be caught by the cops. Brian had disappeared right after, before he had to tell his story to his superiors. He was still a fuckin punk, but slightly less of one. It didn't matter anyway because he'd fallen off planet earth after he'd handed over his keys. There'd been some news story that went national, out of Miami, that had literally smacked of the buster and his style but names were never mentioned, as cop names rarely were. All that was said was some fancy driving and quick thinking on the parts of two under cover officers had ensured one Carter Verone wouldn't be on the streets to peddle his drugs for some time to come.

So now he had four very nice cars that for obvious reasons he both didn't want to see the taillights of, and didn't feel he had the right to dispose of. But he also knew holding onto the cars was both holding onto the past and not practical. Or healthy. It was keeping his head in the past when the future was what he should be concentrating on. He couldn't drive them all. He'd solved that issue for a long while for Letty's car but now it too was coming home to rest.

Maybe the cars were all tired. Maybe they were just as tired of the life as he was. It might be the best thing for all of them, cars and men, if they parted ways and each took new paths. But that was a line of bull shit and Vince wouldn't allow himself to think such sentimental thoughts. They were just cars. Very highly tuned, expensive pieces of machinery. They didn't care who owned them or why. He wouldn't ever tell Letty that though, as convinced as she was hers had a personality and name to go with it.

The whole issue needed further thought. As much as he already thought Gem was right, and the cars should go, it wasn't something he could just do. He'd have to think on it for longer than he already had and be very sure it was what he wanted before he made a move. It wasn't something he could undo if he changed his mind. Sold was sold. There was no undoing it.

With a heartfelt sigh he stood up and went back to his work. Yes, the issue needed a lot more thought indeed.

Gem woke up around eleven am. She came too with a groan and opened her eyes. She shut them again quickly as the sun filled them. Her head was splitting. True to her word she remembered every second of the night before. But it had this hazy quality like someone else had lived it and she'd watched. She tried opening her eyes again, making sure to keep them to a squint and saw the Aspirin and water on the nightstand. She sat up slowly, even the measured motion making her head swim, and took the pills, draining the water from the glass at the same time.

She leaned her head back against the headboard with a sigh. Her brush with alcohol hadn't made anything better. Not really. On second thought she couldn't really say that. She'd gotten Vince to admit he acted like a jack ass to hide his emotions from the world. That was something. She just wasn't sure it was something worth the horrible headache she'd ended up with over it.

Thinking perhaps a bath would make her feel better she stood up slowly and walked to the bathroom, dragging her feet and holding her head with one hand. When she was done she did feel better. She got dressed, picked up her note pad and pencil and wandered into the backyard to get a little sun and try to write something for her next song, her sun glasses firmly attached to her nose and ears.

As she lay on a lounge chair with a glass of lemonade at her elbow and the sun beating down on her she couldn't think of a single thing to write about. She knew she should have had lots to tell but she wasn't sure how to put any of it into words. She wasn't really sure how she felt about it either. There was also the little problem that she wasn't sure if she really wanted to share any of it. It still hurt too much, the pain was still too fresh. She knew writing about it would be like picking at it, keeping the sore open.

Should she let the wound heal? In the end it didn't matter because the scar would still be there to remind her the past was quite real, and had been no bad dream. She was the kind of person who liked rational conversations to solve problems. She wasn't really sure she understood Vince's need to hurt others rather than deal with his own issues. His need to avoid things instead of talking them out.

It was her nature to want to help him. It was also in her nature to try and save herself. She wasn't about to keep hanging out for heartbreak. There was going to come a point where she was going to have to just admit she had done what she could to try and put Vince back together and couldn't. At that point she knew she was going to have to move on with her own life.

What she was really scared of was, what if when that time came she was already too attached to just walk away? The deeper she got the less likely she was going to be to just up and walk away. What if she got use to dancing around issues and being around someone who couldn't be honest about his feelings? What if she changed who she was to accommodate a need she had to have him in her life? She already felt more real and alive when she was with him. Could she honestly afford to allow herself to grow accustomed to that feeling, as unstable as Vince was?

Sometimes it felt like she just couldn't be herself around him. The way she knew herself wasn't how she acted anymore. So she saw two explanations. Either she'd been deluding herself all along and how she was acting lately was how she really was, or the things she'd been feeling and coping with lately were making her act out of character.

She reclined farther back into her lounge chair and closed her eyes behind her sunglasses. Some time soon she was going to have to come to some sort of decision about the whole scenario. It wasn't a decision she was looking forward to making.

As the sun beat down on her warmly, the lemonade rehydrated her abused body and a cool breeze kept her from feeling too warm she drifted off into a deep sleep.

After returning from a lunch that had consisted of something quick and greasy from Fat Burger and was sitting like a rock in his stomach, Vince went back to work on the list of work, that as Cory had predicted, had slowly started to trickle in. Eating at Fat Burger had been a necessary evil to Vince. He knew he couldn't face Mia without leaving with blisters on his ass and a splitting headache so he avoided her. Call it cowardly if you wanted to but he wasn't in the mood to deal with Mia giving him the cold shoulder after her red hot tongue just yet.

She was going to be pissed off no matter how he looked at it.

"Hey homie!" Vince heard a jovial voice call from behind him.

He turned around to greet Hector with a manly handshake. "Hey man. How's it goin'?"

"Good, good. 'Cept the Civic's got somethin' goin' on. It has a nasty lag in fourth. My crew can't find the problem. It might be some sorta squirrelly electrical glitch."

"Only fourth?" Vince asked as they walked out to Hector's oddly coloured 'baby'.

"Yeah. I just don't get it man. Its fine in third, and when you hit fifth but fourth is where she really hits power band. But the power just ain't there. It's like there's no gas reaching the engine."

"I'll have Cory take it out and see if he has any ideas for you brotha."

"Great."

Vince tossed Cory the keys to Hector's car and gave him a brief idea what it was doing. Cory went off for a test drive and Vince and Hector walked back into the garage to get out of the mid afternoon heat.

"So, we never see you down town anymore Homes. What's up wit that?"

"Just don't see the point I guess. Not since the guys," Vince looked around as he sighed, "all went away."

"Doesn't mean you can't come say hello to some old friends Homes. You should swing by some time. Ever since Dom left there isn't anyone worth racin. Not with Letty gone too. You could come clean up. At least if I wasn't racin that is." Hector laughed and Vince joined him.

"I might take you up on that sometime Brotha. It's been a while. Car might need some work before she hits the streets again."

"Your car? Hell no V. I walked by it on the way in. That thing looks as cherry as the day you rolled it out of the shop after you finished the build."

"Thanks man. But I still don't run it quite as high intensity as I use to. Things have changed since last race wars."

"We all know that. I mean, everyone knows Dom, Letty and Leon took off and of course we all heard about Jesse, but that doesn't mean you can't come hang out with the old crowd every once in awhile. Roll up in the seven. That'll give the crowd a shock."

"I bet." Vince chuckled at the thought of rolling into the warehouse in Dom's ride. The crowd would go crazy. Until he got out of the car and they found out it was just Vince, not their king returning to his throne. "I'll think about it."

Cory burst back into the shop. He was like a constant ball of energy. He never did anything slowly, but rushed headlong into everything with a one track mind and short attention span. "You had an injector cutting out in fourth. I fixed it up already." Cory tossed Hector his keys.

"Thanks dude." Hector looked at Vince. "What do I owe you man?"

"Don't worry about it. Just do me this favour."

"What's that?"

"Keep a parking spot open for me tonight at the warehouse. Cory just finished his 300zx and we're taking it for a test ride later. I guess that means I need two spots."

"Sweet. You got it Homes! I'll see you there."

Hector took off out of the parking lot, his crowd of followers with him.

"You mean it C? We're going racing tonight? You're going to come too?"

"I guess so." Vince scratched at the back of his neck uncomfortably as he thought about it.

He wasn't sure he wanted to go, but on some levels thought he really should. Maybe it wouldn't be like he remembered. Maybe he wouldn't like it like he did before. Perhaps then he could let it go and forget all about it. He could become one of those people who had a nice, tuned, tricked out car just because he liked to have a fast car that looked unique and interesting.

Even as one part of his brain tried to sell that thought the vast majority of it was busily rejecting it. He knew the reason why he'd stayed away was because he knew he was going to like it just as much as he ever did if he ever went back. At least when he wasn't missing Letty, Leon and Dom. He knew he couldn't let Cory down. The one thing the kid wanted ever since he started working on his own car was for Vince to go with him to races once it was done.

He rolled under another customer's car trying to think of anything that would make the whole experience more bearable and less likely to send him rocketing back into memories of a past he'd never reclaim.

Gem woke up uncomfortably. As she opened her eyes she found out why. Mia was sitting on the end of her lounge chair, staring at her with a great deal of intensity. "Thought you were never going to wake up."

"Gosh, what time is it?" Gem sat up and stretched lazily.

"Five. Your boss called. He says he was talking to a couple old friends of his and heard about your big night. He figures you might as well stay home tonight. Oh, and that Eddie guy brought your car home. You been out here long?"

"Only about four hours. I'm glad the sun moves around the house by three. I'd be right back into being burned to a crisp."

"No kidding. You feeling better now? I bet you were sick when you woke up."

"Oh yeah. Thanks for leaving me the pain killers and water beside the bed. I really appreciated them when I woke up."

"That wasn't me. Musta been Vince."

"Oh." Gem coloured faintly thinking of Vince in her room while she slept.

"Yeah, he stayed up with you last night to make sure you were ok." Mia watched as Gem got progressively more embarrassed. "Don't worry about it. Turn about is fair play after all. I had to stay up enough times with him to make sure he was going to be ok. It's about time he got his." Mia grinned evilly.

"You see Vince today?" Gem questioned, trying to look uninterested in the answer. She was trying to fish for information, hoping to find out if Mia had tanned Vince's hide for whatever details about last night the darker girl had managed to glean. Or in other words if Vince was likely to come home in a fit of resentment figuring that Gem had 'gotten him into trouble' with Mia.

"No, he skipped out on having lunch with me. I figure he'd hiding from the lecture he knows he has coming his way." Mia's anger made her normally dark brown eyes light with an unholy gleam.

Gem was just starting to realize that at some point in time her friend had actually gotten off on antagonizing her brother's childhood pal. Now that she was feeling better, Mia was starting to rediscover her previous loves. "Try not to be too hard on him. I brought some of it on myself."

"I find that _very_ hard to believe. But in any case, come into the house. You can help me get supper ready. We'll cook enough for V, just in case he's not too much of a coward to come eat it."

"Alright." Gem said as she stood up. She picked up her notebook, pen and glass and followed Mia into the house. She put her things away and allowed Mia to tell her what to do to get supper ready for the three of them. About half an hour into their preparations the phone rang. Mia was closer so she answered it.

"'llo?" Mia greeted the caller, almost sounding distracted. Of course she was still chopping vegetables. The caller must have said something in greeting as Mia paused a moment. Gem did her best to watch her friend unobtrusively.

"Where have you been today?"

Gem wondered if it could be anyone other than Vince once that question left Mia's mouth.

"I'm cooking dinner."

Mia wasn't pleased with whoever was on the other end that was for sure. Gem tried to remind herself it wasn't nice to be nosey but she couldn't help herself. She wanted to know who was on the other end of the call.

"Are you coming home to eat?" Again Mia paused to let the other person speak. Gem was now totally sure it was Vince. She wasn't sure if she was glad Mia had answered or upset she wouldn't get to talk to Vince to gauge where they stood. "So you will be home but it'll be late? Like how late?"

"Like six thirty or so Mia. Is that ok?" Vince asked as he cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear so both his hands were free to be washed. They'd just finished up all the customer work for the day and were getting ready to go to Cory's to give the car a once over. Mia answered his question. Vince wondered if Gem was home.

"So is Gem there or did she go to work."

"No, she's here." Mia answered. She lowered her voice. "Her boss knows the guys who brought her home last night. After he heard the shape she was in last night he called and gave her the day off. Why?"

"I promised Cory I'd go to his first race night with him and I can't back out. I'd like the two of you to come with me. If you think you'd like to."

"That actually sounds like fun." Mia answered.

Vince knew there was a time when she used to run with some of the girls off Hector's crew. Mostly when Letty wasn't in the mood to put up with Mia's girlie attitudes.

"Just do me this favour, make sure Gem's ready but don't tell her where we're going. I want it to be a surprise."

"Ok."

"I'll see you later then." Vince hung up and dried his hands on a towel which had, at one point in its life, been white but was now a very off grey colour. He made a mental note to buy a paper towel dispenser and do away with the scuzzy towel. He found Cory waiting out front beside the Maxima. "You ready?"

"Yeah. The Silvia be ok here?"

"Shit, I forgot about it. We'll just put it in the shop for the night." They took care of stowing Letty's car safely locked up in the building and then took off toward Cory's place. He didn't live that far from the Toretto house; only about 15 minutes.

They had a few beer and finished fine tuning Cory's car. The car was a 1991 Nissan 300zx twin turbo edition. Cory's brother had been in a bad wreck with it a few years before and from that point on had sworn off racing. He'd parked the car in his back yard under a tarp and basically forgot about it. That was until his little brother had gotten old enough to question big brother's decision to leave such a nice car smashed to bits rotting in the back yard. Cory had always had the racing bug, but he'd been bitten hard the summer he turned nineteen and he'd seen his brother's car as a quick and convenient stepping stone into the scene.

To say Chris, Cory's older brother, had been unimpressed by Cory's need to follow in his footsteps was an understatement. However, he'd given his wrecked vehicle to his brother, saying if he could get it back into black top running shape he could have it. Cory hadn't let the huge prospect daunt him. He'd tackled the project with Jesse like enthusiasm.

It took him the full two years since his brother's grudging offer to finish fixing the car. But it was finally fixed and looking pretty damn good if Vince did say so himself. Of course he'd spent a lot of nights before he headed to the Cobalt helping the younger man work on it. What Cory had in enthusiasm he couldn't always back up in common sense knowledge. That was where Vince came in. He had the years of experience to finish the build and find the nagging little issues one always had with a car that had been wrecked and rebuild just as bad as the Nissan had been wrecked.

Sometimes they both lacked the strength to do what had to be done. Cory was a slight young man and Vince didn't have half the muscle he had before his forced hospital stay. They'd had Bill help them on those rare occasions but mostly it was just the two of them. His lack of strength was something he was slowly rectifying ever since his night time journey with Gem. He actually missed the days when all his clothes fit and it sure had been easier to do his job when he wasn't as weak as some paper pushing office pansy too.

"Ok kid, I gotta split for home. I'll swing by here for you later and we'll head down."

"Sure C, see you then dude."

"Sure Brotha, see you then. Be ready for ten, ok?"

"I'll be ready by eight. I don't know how I'm gonna wait for you to come back."

Vince chuckled at Cory's excitement. He remembered back when the scene was fresh and racing was the most exciting thing in his life. "Wax your car again. That'll help it go faster."

Cory looked like he was believing that might work until he caught the shine of devilment in his older friend's blue eyes. "You're teasing."

"Yeah." Vince cuffed Cory on the back playfully. "I gotta split before I find my ass in a sling for being late to dinner."

"Sure dude. I'll be ready."

With a wave Vince took off for home. He rolled into the driveway and turned off his car. He just sat in the car a few moments, trying to gather his courage for the coming confrontation. He wasn't looking forward to seeing Gem. He was worried she'd still be upset with him, no matter how ok she'd seemed with him before she'd fell asleep. He was also worried that Mia would still be very mad at him too. He didn't want dinner to be too tense because he was sincerely hoping that he could manage to get Gem and Mia to go to races with him and Cory.

He wasn't sure why he wanted Gem to go with them. He thought it might have something to do with thinking of she saw the scene, felt the excitement and could find a small amount of that excitement in herself for racing as a sport she might just understand him and his life a bit better. Might find some empathy in her for Dominic and the trials and tribulations of his life.

Surely she would see just how far removed the street racing scene was from the sort of organized races seen on TV. If she saw all that Dominic had lost she might just understand why he'd latched onto any source of control in his life.

He knew Dom was everything Gem accused him off being. But he was a lot of other, positive things too. It was just that when you only heard about him from someone who he'd abandoned you got a negatively biased view of the man. Vince knew he talked a lot of smack about his former best friend, but he felt like he was mostly entitled, having been left-as far as Dominic had known at least-to take the blame for what they'd been up to on solely by himself. Add to that the fact that Mia was shattered her much loved and idolized older brother had never returned for her and you could see where Gem would hear enough negative things about Dom to fill a large novel. Vince knew it would have torn Mia just as badly to choose between leaving him all alone and going with Dominic but in the end she would have run off with her brother. But Dom had never given her the choice. He'd just left her like so much excess baggage.

Yeah, they all had their reasons that justified them being pissed at Dom, but that was just based on what he'd done under duress, not on how he'd lived his whole life up 'til now. But trying to explain that to Gem, who'd only ever seen the aftermath and heard the stories of what a dickhead Dom could be wasn't easy. With a sigh he tossed open the car door and stood up, dragging up the walk and into the house. He noted Gem's car was home with a growl. The punks with the bikes must have brought it. He didn't want that man in Gem's life ever again. Not that he had a right to say anything about it.

As he closed the front door behind himself he sniffed the air appreciatively. Something smelled really good. There went his plan of simply inhaling some food over the sink and slinking off to his room to hide in private until it was time to go to races. If Mia and Gem had taken the time to cook a nice meal he'd have to take the time to sit down and properly eat it.

He walked into the kitchen, looking around on alert for flying pottery. None was forthcoming. "Hey." He said to Mia and Gem, who were sitting at the table together, talking.

"Hey." Mia said. "Go get cleaned up, supper's ready."

"Ok." He looked at Gem. She felt his gaze and looked up to meet it. "Hey." He repeated himself softly, looking for any signs she was about to blow up or brush him off.

"Hi." She answered back tentatively.

"How're you feelin'?" Vince took a few steps her direction.

Mia, sensing the mood, the tension, took herself off to 'use the facilities'.

"Ok. Largely thanks to you I hear. Thank you for the Aspirin."

"No sweat. I guess we all know I know what it's like to wake up hung over." Vince managed a very self depreciating smile. "It was the least I could do after everything."

Gem looked down at the table top. She wasn't really sure what to say back to that. She agreed with him, but also felt like she brought some of the whole thing on herself. She should have known a man like him wouldn't have that much interest in her. She should have known all along it was just the situation they had been placed into, not some actual attraction to her on his part. Since she didn't have words she simply shrugged while looking at the table.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Vince asked as he finished his trip to the table and pulled out the chair kitty corner to Gem, sitting down. "It's ok if you're still mad at me. I was a total asshole."

"It's my fault too. I shouldn't have taken you so seriously. I knew all along that there was no way you were going to be really interested in-"

When it was clear where her statement was going Vince cut her off. "When I said I only said that shit to you for revenge I meant it. Don't go reading more into it. Half the reason I was so pissed off was because I thought the reason why you never came lookin' for me was because you realized you could do a hell of a lot better." He didn't know how it was just being around her made him admit things out loud he didn't even like to think about in the first place.

His statement made her head snap up. "You think I realized I could do better than you?"

"You could. I got no future better'n the one you see me livin every day kid. I got no education better'n the one I picked up from Dom's father in the garage. Fuck, I'm lucky I graduated high school. I got no manners and the only things I can do is drive big rigs and fix cars. I cuss too much, I drink too much, I got too much ink and drive too fast. You deserve someone with a brighter future than I'll ever have."

He was so down on himself. Gem didn't know how one person could give off such an air of self confidence and be so at odds to that image inside, where it counted. He was just as insecure about himself as she was about herself. It was sobering to realize just how far above himself he'd placed her. She wasn't the perfect person to be placed on a pedestal he seemed to think.

"What's that saying you car types have?" Gem thought a second as she watched Vince try to come up with an answer to her question. "I'm no trailer queen, V. I'm not made to be admired from afar, seen but never touched, displayed but never driven. I want to live my life in the full spectrum of all it has to offer. I'm just a person. Just like you. I have my own flaws, my own faults and insecurities. I'm just as good at hiding them as you are. Perhaps we'd really make a perfect pair. It sounds almost like we deserve each other."

Vince chuckled. "So, you think you can forgive me for last night then?"

"I know I'd like to try." And it was true. Because if she couldn't then she'd have to leave. That meant leaving Mia, the neighbourhood, and most of all the Cobalt because she wouldn't even be able to see Vince there if she wasn't allowed to have him in her life.

"Good, after supper I want you to go get dressed up. Mia'll help you out. I'm takin you girls out tonight."

"Where?"

"Surprise. There's just something I wanna show you."

"Alright." She capitulated easily, much to Vince's shock. She was one of the most forgiving people he'd ever met. Mia would be busy pretending nothing from yesterday had happened, all while giving him dirty looks and being frosty to him.

"I'm gonna go get cleaned up quick before we eat."

Gem nodded as Mia came back into the kitchen.

Gem knew Vince had missed the tears in her eyes but she didn't. Mia had heard every word. Gem didn't know if she was crying for the broken state Vince was truly in or for what Gem had said, or both for that matter, but it didn't matter. The way Vince dogged on himself made her want to cry too. He had a way of making her anger dissipate like water poured onto hot tarmac just by being honest with her for a few minutes. With a wordless understanding Gem crossed the kitchen to Mia's side and the two embraced, holding on tight.

Maybe she hadn't been after a project relationship or putting someone as broken as Vince back together, but Mia was right. The results if she managed were going to make every effort, every tear, every yelled word worth it in the end.

Before Vince could return and catch them being all sappy the two girls pulled apart and sniffled, drying their eyes while grinning at each other. No matter what, Vince being that honest about something he was feeling without cussing or yelling was progress.

Supper was a light hearted affair. They all seemed to take the attitude that they wanted to put the unpleasantness behind them. Gem tried teasing and cajoling information about where he was taking them out of Vince but he wouldn't bite. Even Mia, who Gem was sure, knew more than she was letting on wouldn't answer any of her questions. It was frustrating. But Vince was so adorable as he was secretive Gem had to let it go. She threw herself on his mercy with gusto.

She and Mia cleaned up after while Vince went to do something in the yard. Once the kitchen was clean Mia dragged Gem up the stairs to get ready.

"So, what am I supposed to wear?" Gem asked as Mia pushed her into her room.

"We'll need to look through what you have before we can decide. First things first." Mia's hand reached out and snatched the elastic out of Gem's hair. "Sit down. I'll be a while with your hair."

"What do you plan to do to it?"

"Nothing, really." Mia answered noncommittally and forced Gem down into her chair. She made sure Gem couldn't see in the mirror before she got started. She sprayed Gem's hair down with some water and combed it out. Then a pair of scissors came out of her back pocket. Gem saw them move toward her head.

"Oh no you don't. I don't want a hair cut."

"I'm just going to trim it. Wait and see. You'll like it with some layers."

"I like it just fine the way it is. It's been this style since high school."

"No kidding. It shows. You need to update your style some. Does my hair look bad?"

"No."

"Well, that's what I'm going to do to yours."

"I'm not you."

"Could you just trust me?"

"Ok." Gem gave in with a sigh. "But I want it mostly the same length when you're done and I still want to be able to tie it up."

"Not a problem."

Gem squinted her eyes shut to avoid seeing any of her long blonde hair hit the floor. When Mia was done she refused to let Gem see. Instead she got out a make up kit and began applying cosmetics to Gem's face.

Next she moved on to Gem's closet and dresser drawers. After picking out some clothes for Gem she made her change into them. Then she rearranged her hair around her and touched up her make up.

"Ok, you're all set. You can go look now."

Gem walked over to the mirror. She wasn't sure she knew the girl looking back. Mia had made her eyes seem larger and bluer than ever with black eyeliner and mascara. It wasn't obvious but subdued, subtle. Her lips were a rich berry colour, again it managed to look almost natural. She actually liked the way her hair fell now that it was layered. It was just as long but it had a hint of natural wave to it, just like Mia's.

She was wearing a sheer, frilly white tank top over a solid red one and a pair of black Capri pants. "Mia, I don't know what you did to me."

"You don't like it." Mia's face fell. It was just like trying to dress Letty all over again.

"No I love it. But I think I look too sophisticated. I'll never pull it off."

"You already are. You look great. Just have some faith in yourself and remember you aren't a trailer queen. Time to live life miss Gem. Let's go get me ready."

They headed across the hall to Mia's room. Mia put on a western style skirt and paired it with a frilly tank top in a turquoise colour.

"Are you guys almost ready? I told Cory we'd be over at his place by ten." Vince hollered up the stairs. It was already ten to ten. They'd never make it in time at this rate.

"We're ready, hold your horses." Mia roared back.

"Still not going to tell me where we're going?" Gem asked as they headed for the stairs.

"No way. He'd kill me if you found out before he was ready to tell you."

Mia went down the stairs first, Gem close on her heels.

"You look good." Vince told Mia with a brotherly kiss on the cheek as she left the stairs and stood off to his side. This allowed him an unobstructed view of Gem.

Her hair was falling in sleek waves all around her shoulders and back. The new cut picked up the lighter colour on top by allowing the contrasting darker layers underneath to show. Her face was made up lightly to accent her full lips and beautiful eyes. In that moment, standing there on the stairs, looking slightly out of her element and more than slightly unsure of herself she looked like the most beguiling woman on earth. Her clothes were pretty and feminine, revealing just enough to lend intrigue to what was beneath them. She looked nothing like the kind of woman he was used to seeing when he went racing and he wouldn't have taken her any other way. "Wow." Was all he could actually put into words.

Gem blushed and giggled. Mia grinned from ear to ear. Vince opened the front door. Mia went out first. Gem went to follow her. Vince stopped her briefly. "You look good." He said, discomfort with the words making his voice into a husky growl.

"Thanks." Gem said softly over her shoulder with a smile. It was heady to have someone compliment you and actually mean it. The wonder in Vince's face would be hard to contrive. The simple words said with candour meant more than any contrived compliment ever could.

They reached the driveway where Mia was waiting beside her car. "I'm taking my own car. We can't roll up in only two cars."

"Ok. Just follow me to Cory's house, we'll get him and then we'll head down."

Gem looked between them both with a look of confusion on her face. "Roll up where? What does Cory have to do with this?"

"You'll see." Vince answered and pulled her door open, helping her into his car. He'd thought about Hector's idea he take Dom's car tonight but had rejected it. He had put himself into his own car. Driving Dom's was like cheating himself. Plus he didn't want to let Dominic intrude on his night. He was going racing just because he wanted to, because he'd promised a friend. Not because Dom needed his crew of loyal followers to feel like the big man on campus. He really hoped that Gem didn't hate the experience.

They pulled up to Cory's house and the kid was already in his car with the engine idling, waiting on them. Cory waved Vince ahead and Vince took off, Mia behind him and Cory bringing up the rear. Mia had always had a touch of the speed bug in her too. Vince supposed she couldn't not, not growing up with her father and brother. She lacked competitive drive however, and rarely raced for sport. She did it just for the sheer fun of it.

When they reached the open area leading up to the alleyway between the two warehouses Mia pulled out to his left, her car's nose even with his rear bumper and Cory took his right in the same position. Just like old times only instead of a red rocket ship in the flagship position it was a blue bullet. Vince tried not to let it go to his head that tonight he was the leader. He had his followers in V formation behind him. And his trophy sitting in his passenger seat, not running her own road rocket behind him. _His _trophy was at his right side, where she belonged, not placed behind him as though she was inferior and not qualified to be at the head of the line.

"This is the street races isn't it?" Gem asked as the cars flew toward the alleyway.

"Yeah. Are you mad I took you here?" Vince asked, glancing over at Gem from the corner of his eye.

"No. I've been curious. It just seemed like something you didn't want to do anymore so I didn't ask."

"I thought it was something I didn't want to do anymore. I think when it comes down to it I was scared to come here. I was scared of how it would remind me of who should be here with me. But in the end I guess since Dom took off I shouldn't let him take away something I used to enjoy doing."

"Not if you want to be here."

As they breached the alley's mouth and moved down the lane Gem's head flew from side to side as she tried to take in everything she was seeing. There were so many colours and lights all along the way she feared she'd never see them all and would miss something vital to the experience. It was as exciting as a carnival and they hadn't even parked the car yet.

Just as she thought that Vince pulled to a stop in the middle of the isle, just like Dom had done so many times while he was behind him. Normally behind Leon for that matter. At the back of the group with Mia. Well, not tonight. Vince got out of his car and walked around to help Gem out of hers. Cory was out of his looking around like a kid in the candy store who'd been told he could have whatever he wanted.

"Wow." Gem said, still holding the hand Vince had used to help her out of his dropped car. She looked around. Some of the cars had flashing lights, some just had neon lights everywhere. There was one car which had a neon lighting system underneath it which was changing colour every few minutes. Gem looked around at the other girls after she'd taken in a few of the cars. "I'm way over dressed. Half these girls aren't wearing half the clothes I am."

"You're not like those girls princess. You look great the way you are." Vince draped an arm possessively around Gem's shoulders. She was getting a fair amount of masculine attention, as was Mia. New girls often did. Their skank status was unknown and they hadn't had time to be disillusioned to the fact that the only role for most women on the scene was to make themselves available for the night to the winners. Gem would never find out that was what so many of the girls she was busy envying would be doing that evening after all the adrenaline was done flowing and the lights were shut down for the night.

Vince wanted the scene to stay magical for her, like he wished it had for him. Seeing Gem in the setting was making him realize he'd used so many of those girls for quick satisfaction, knowing that it was all they expected. They didn't expect any forever promises or kind treatment. Of course they didn't offer any loyalty in return. The moment you weren't winning anymore was the moment they left you for a bed with more prestige.

"Look at that car." Gem said, wonder in her words as she pointed at a pink Honda De Sol, the Asian girl who owned the car dressed in pink herself standing beside it looking just like the airbrushed girl on the hood. "She's had herself painted onto the hood."

"Yeah. You wanna go look around?"

"Sure."

Vince moved his arm off her shoulders and took her hand. He turned to Mia and Cory. We're just gonna go for a tour. You two wanna come?" Vince was glad Gem was looking off in another direction because as Cory went to say yes Mia kicked him in the shin. He shook his head no as he used his other foot to rub his stinging leg.

"I'm going to go see some people I haven't seen since we were here last and I bet Cory wouldn't want to let me wander off alone, would you Cory?" Mia asked in a sweet voice.

"Of course not Mia."

Vince watched, fighting laugher as he watched the dejected Cory follow Mia into a circle of Hector's female friends and crew members. "You ready."

"Umm." Gem answered and allowed Vince to lead her off down the alleyway. He pointed out various cars and people of interest as they went. Gem took it all in like a sponge, her eyes wide with wonder.

Her enthralment was catchy. Vince hadn't had so much fun at races since he and Dom had first started going. It was like her innocence of all the seedier aspects of the scene and her total rapture for the millions of lights and different kinds of music on blast brought back his pure enjoyment of the hobby. They stopped to look at an older RX-7, Gem asking him questions about the car and the paint. "Look at that one." She pointed at a mid nineties Honda Civic. "It's like mine."

"I think it's in slightly better condition and a bit newer."

"Still, mine could be like that."

"I guess it could be." Vince took the easy way out and decided to let her have her allusions about her car. He didn't want to ruin the night by fighting with her on the still sore subject of her refusal to replace her tired little car. He gave into his impulse to squeeze her around her waist to his side as he smiled down at her.

"You're humouring me." Gem said as she looked up.

"Guilty as charged. I don't want to argue tonight."

"You won't get one out of me. I'm having too much fun. Was it always like this for you?"

"For a long time, yeah. It lost some of the fun when Dom started to take it so seriously and basically made us take it that seriously right along with him."

"There are so many different cars, and people here. I'm afraid that I'm going to miss something if I close my eyes for a second too long."

"I can tell. If I'd known it'd make you this happy I'd have taken you here ages ago."

Gem couldn't believe how relaxed and happy Vince was here, amongst his friends. He was sober, and happy, and almost charming. When he smiled because he was really happy he had the most delicious crinkles just starting around the outside corners of his eyes. He stopped every so often to introduce her to people he knew, always keeping his arm around her waist or shoulders possessively but she honestly didn't mind. She got the feeling that it wasn't very often that Vince showed a preference for what girl was under his arm.

The whole atmosphere was almost too much for her to take in. Every car was slightly different than the one before it. No two cars were alike, not even if they were the same car underneath. There were so many girls dressed up to the nines. So many of them were wearing less than Gem thought decent but it lent an air of decadence to the whole scene. So did the cars, which were the real stars of the night.

There were so many different colours but all of them were pristine and shining like diamonds. The graphics were all different, many indicative of who owned the vehicle they were attached to. Every time all the beautiful girls started to overwhelm her it seemed like Vince read her mind and did something to remind her that unlike the random girls roving in packs together she knew both who she came with and who she was leaving with at the end of the night. Vince was always touching her in some way and it kept her from becoming apprehensive about her position in the crowd. She might not belong in the world but she was fairly certain she did belong at the side of the man she came with.

They made their way slowly back to the cars, seeing more cars along the opposite side of the alley as they went. When they arrived back at Vince's car they found Mia and Cory there along with Hector.

Vince and Hector shook hands before Vince turned to Gem. "Hector I want you to meet a friend of mine, Gem Davis. Gem, this is an old friend of mine, Hector."

"I got a last name too but I can't pronounce it so," Hector shrugged, "we can't expect the white boy to." Hector stuck out his hand. Gem took it and shook it with a smile.

"Nice to meet you."

"Where'd you find this one V?" Hector asked Vince with a grin, after giving Gem a head to toe look. "She's a keeper Homes."

Vince didn't answer, just smiled. He wasn't sure if Gem would take offence to him saying he knew that already, or if she'd take offence if he insisted they were just friends so he didn't say anything.

Gem hoped that Hector's words hadn't scared Vince into thinking about long term relationships and commitments he wasn't ready to formalize so she simply smiled what she hoped was a serene smile. "He found me in a parking lot with a dead starter and I've been a constant thorn in his side since."

"What she doesn't know is I only half ass fixed her car so she couldn't get too far away from me in it." Vince smiled wolfishly.

"Ah Coyote, we've missed you man." Hector said around his laughter.

"Oh!" Gem said in revelation. "C stands for Coyote. That was the nickname you wouldn't tell me?"

Vince hoped the flashing lights of various colours and the darkness of the night hid the faint blush he was sure was creeping up his neck. "Yeah."

"How'd you get a nickname like that?"

Vince shrugged.

"Because he likes to keep to himself and he'll eat anything. Plus he's smart, quick, and sly." Hector answered for him.

"Mostly because he'll eat anything." Mia tossed out, smiling at Vince's discomfort.

"It's old and not something I hear too much anymore." Vince grumbled.

"I tried so hard to find out what it meant when I first heard Cory call him 'C' but he wouldn't tell me no matter how hard I questioned and then I mostly forgot all about it until now or I would have asked Mia long ago."

"Come say hello to these people with me." Mia said as she grabbed Gem by the wrist and pulled her away from Vince. Vince watched them go with a shocked look on his face to match the one on Gem's.

"What was that about Mia?" Gem asked as they walked away.

"Nothing, I just want you to meet these girls."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. That and I wanted to tell you one other little interesting fact about Coyotes."

"That is?"

"When they mate, they mate for life."

As Mia made her point they reached the girls she'd been taking them to see. They'd been talking for a while when Gem felt an arm go around her waist. She looked up at Vince, who'd materialized by her side. "Hi." She said, fighting to keep a grin at seeing him from appearing on her face.

"Hey. I got challenged to a race and if that one goes off without the cops being called then Cory's gonna race. You gonna come watch us?"

"Sure." Gem looked at Mia. "You coming?"

"Yeah." Mia said good-bye to her friends and they all walked over to where Vince's car was parked. Vince got in and drove to the line, Mia and Gem following in Mia's car and Cory following in his own.

The girls, accompanied by Cory joined the throng of cheering people along the side of the road the race was to be held on.

"This is safe, right?" Gem asked Mia, traces of worry finding their way onto her face.

"Well, Vince is good at it." Mia hedged.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Well, of course it's not really safe. I mean he's going to drive down a public road at 120." Mia looked contrite for what she said seconds after she said it. "My brother and his friends raced ever since they were old enough to drive and none of them ever got hurt doing it."

"Just Vince, and Letty, and your father." Gem pointed out, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Vince and Letty didn't get hurt street racing." Mia answered back in a low tone. "And my father didn't either. None of us has ever been hurt on the street. It'll be fine. Just watch. Vince is quite good at this. Or at least he use to be, before my brother pretty much decided he was the only one who should do any racing because he wanted all the money." Mia blew out a frustrated breath.

They watched as a girl raised her hand into the air, a white handkerchief in it and waved it, making the white pennant wave and jump in the air before she slammed her hand toward the ground while calling "Go!"

The three cars on the line took off in a blur of colours and squealing tires, flames erupting from the exhausts.

Gem watched, enthralled as the cars jockeyed for positions and weaved in and around each other. It wasn't long before Vince's blue car was rapidly pulling away from his two competitors. Gem could only guess the crowd erupting in noisy cheering was signalling the end of the race. It had only taken about thirteen seconds from start to finish.

Watching them streak away and worrying about the safety of her friend had made it seem a heck of a lot longer to Gem however. She watched as the three cars executed turns and came back to where they'd started at. She watched as Vince got his prize money from Hector, a smug smile on his face. She watched as his familiar blue eyes scanned the crowd. She knew by some instinct he was looking for her. She decided not to make it easy for him by rushing to his side. She stayed where she was, a smile flirting with the corners of her mouth.

Vince accepted the praise from the crowd thankfully. He was glad he'd won and it felt good to be the person everyone was looking up to for once. But there was one person whose reaction he was really interested in but he didn't see her anywhere. He fought his way out of a crowd of the very kind of girl that not so long ago he would have been thrilled to be in the middle of. But now he just found their over made up faces and on display bodies too out there. He found he preferred his girls a little more subtle and a lot more covered up and modest.

His eyes finally found her in the middle of a crowd of strangers, hanging back like she wasn't sure she'd be welcomed into the circle of people throwing themselves at him for some of his attention. He fought his way to her side. "There you are."

"Here I am." She answered.

"Did you see?"

"Yes. I'm glad you made it back safe."

The fact that her concern was for his personal safety and not the fact he'd won not lost touched him. "Thanks. You don't have anything to say about the fact I won?"

"Congratulations?" She smirked playfully. "You made it look so easy I thought perhaps it wasn't a challenge for you."

"It was. More of one than I'd like to admit as a matter of fact. I'm rusty."

"It didn't show."

"Good. Let's go watch Cory do his thing."

"Ok." She allowed herself to be lead out of the crowd over to the side of Cory's car. They watched as he raced and lost by a nose.

Vince consoled his young friend well, convincing the youth that he'd only get better with practise. After they talked to some other people Vince had known back 'in the day' as he put it, Mia came up to Gem.

"Some girls asked me to go out with them when this is all over. You want to come with?" Mia asked Gem.

"I'll pass Mia. I'm getting pretty tired to tell the truth. I didn't get a lot of good sleep last night."

"Ok, well, I'm going to go with them if you don't mind."

"I don't mind. I'll just ride home with Vince."

"Ok, see you later."

"Yeah, later." Gem waved as Mia walked away with a Latina girl she knew through Hector.

As Gem stood in the crowd, left practically alone by Mia's departure and Vince's position someplace to her left where he was talking to Cory and some other guys they knew she heard some girls talking.

"I don't know who she is but look at her outfit. Someone should let her know that high school was over a while ago."

"I know. I just don't know how a girl like her got hooked up with Vince. I mean, he use to have some taste."

Gem realized they were talking about her with a gasp of shock. She fought tears, wishing she just hadn't heard them. It wasn't fair. Just as she'd convinced herself that she had a future with Vince, that they were making progress someone had to go and remind her in the harshest way possible that she couldn't be herself and be someone that would fit into his world. And seeing him here tonight had brought it home just how much this was his world. He was so at home here, fit in so perfectly, but once again she was on the outside looking in. She noticed Vince notice Mia leaving and saw him start her way. She schooled her face into a mask of calm. She'd allow herself to be upset about what the girls had said later.

"Where's Mia going?" Vince asked as he noticed Mia's retreating back.

"Out with some girls she knows."

"Why didn't she ask you to go with her?" Vince asked, angry at the thought they were excluding Gem because she was new. If he'd known what the two girls behind her had said he'd have been a heck of a lot more angry than he was.

"She did. I declined. I'm too tired to go to a dance club tonight."

"Oh. You want to go home then?"

"When you're ready."

"I'm ready. I'm too damn old to run from the cops and they're bound to be called if we stick around here too long."

"Ok, we should head out then because I sure don't want to get arrested."

They said good night to Cory and got into the Maxima, heading toward home from the warehouse district.

"You seem so quiet all of a sudden. Something happen you wanna tell me about?" Vince asked Gem as they drove home. She only shook her head no in answer, further convincing him there was something. "Come on Princess, don't stop talkin' to me now."

"It's nothing, really." Gem was trying to convince herself not to listen to those two girls. They were just jealous. It was something that Gem had picked up on, whether Vince tried to let her or not, that those girls threw themselves at the winning drivers. She was busy trying to convince herself they were just upset that while they'd made their offers obvious Vince hadn't taken any of them up on it.

"If it's nothing than it shouldn't be a big deal to tell me what it was."

"Fine. These two girls that were behind me were talking down about me and how I didn't belong there tonight. I almost let them convince me they were right."

"You can't listen to what race skanks say Gem. They're a different kind of person than what you're use to. Trust me. Nothing they said has any basis in reality other than the deluded reality in their own heads."

"I've been telling myself that ever since we left. It's just that I felt like I was out of my element there already then I overheard that."

"You're right, you were out of your element there, but that's a good thing. It means that racing is a fun experience for you. I don't ever want it to loose the fun for you. If it does than you should stop going. But you can't change who you are so some slutty girls won't be jealous of you."

"Thanks."

"For what?" Vince looked at her in confusion.

She shrugged. "For being you."

Vince looked uncomfortable as he turned up the stereo. A hip hop beat began to emanate from the speakers.

"This isn't your usual music." Gem commented.

"I though maybe we could find some common ground someplace between metal and Amanda Marshall." Vince tossed out one of the names he'd seen in her CD collection as Phenomenon started to blast.

As was often her downfall, Gem couldn't prevent herself from listening to the words of the song instead of just enjoying the beat. The subject matter started to turn her cheeks red. Vince looked over at her and chuckled. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"This song too racy for you?"

"Not at all."

"Ok." Vince turned it up.

"You're horrible." Gem admitted and a laugh at how he was teasing her escaped her lips.

"I know." Within another few minutes they were pulling up to the house. They walked up the stairs into the house. Gem kicked off her heals gratefully and padded barefoot into the living room. She sank into the couch with a sigh. Vince headed into the kitchen. He came back with a glass of lemonade for Gem and a beer for himself. She gave him a speculative look, which he caught.

"I'm just having one, ok?"

"I never said anything." Gem said as she took the glass from his outstretched hand.

"You thought it."

"Now you're a mind reader?"

"When it comes to some things, yeah I am." Vince sat down at the other end of the couch and took a swig of his drink. He turned the TV on and flipped up through the channels but didn't find anything to watch. He flicked the TV off and clicked the stereo on with the remote. The CD engaged and the rich sounds of Ashanti filled the living room, Mia having been the last one to use the stereo.

As the song played Gem railed against the fates which made sure the song cued to play was one that would remind her of her current situation.

As Ashanti crooned about thinking about the way her fictional lover kissed and not wanting it to be wrong because she liked it, and not being able to fight it Gem sat on the couch, a mere two feet away from the man in her thoughts, totally unsure about what to do next. Did they just have an official date? Or was it just two friends hanging out?

_Because I never felt like this, I don't wanna be wrong cause I like it, thinking about the way you kiss._

As Ashanti's recorded words continued to echo her thoughts Gem thought about getting up and fleeing to her room under a guise of being exhausted. Even as she thought that was just what she should do and was getting ready to lean forward and put her glass on the coffee table she watched Vince beat her to the motion, setting his empty beer bottle on the table.

Like his movement had given her courage she also set her glass down. They stood up at the same time, quite by accident. They ended up looking at each other awkwardly, neither sure what the next move should be.

"I had a nice time tonight." Gem broke the silence, feeling the need to say something.

"Me too. Thanks for coming with me even though I wouldn't tell you where we were going."

"I'm glad I came. I understand more why racing was such a big deal to you and your friends now."

"I'd like to take you again some time. Maybe even let you ride along with me."

"I think I'd like that." Gem stretched. Vince watched as the arching motion pulled her shirt tight across her chest. "Night."

Before she could walk away, acting purely on instinct Vince took a hold of her shoulders. She stopped, looking up at him with questions in her eyes. Unable to stand her scrutiny a second longer he used his thumbs to brush her eyes closed before sliding his hands into her silky, unbound hair. She could see right through him.

Her lips parted in unconscious invitation but her eyes stayed closed. He started to lower his head toward hers, focused on nothing but the anticipation of kissing her again. As Mandy Moore sang of longing and desire his lips met hers, cautiously at first but with more hunger as she didn't reject his touch.

As his fingers studied the shape of the back of her head her arms came up and circled his neck. There was no way she could walk away. From moment he touched her she was lost. She could have done it had he not touched her. She didn't have the strength to walk away now. Wasn't sure she wanted to anyway and moreover didn't know if she should walk away. Maybe everything she'd been waiting for was waiting on her right here in this man's arms. The only way she was going to find out was to see where fate took them. So she through caution to the wind, hoped against hope she didn't get her heart broken again and kissed him back with all she had.

Knowing he wasn't ready to take things farther than the kiss they'd shared, and knowing she wasn't likely ready either, after all they'd been through he broke the contact of their lips and simply held her tight for a moment.

After a minute she leaned back and looked up at him in question.

"I think it'd be a better idea to take things slow." He answered her unspoken inquiry.

She nodded. In a way she was frustrated with slow. Slow didn't get her very far. On the other hand his not wanting to rush into a physical relationship showed he wasn't just looking for a quick and meaningless fling. He saw the longing in her eyes anyway.

"Don't look at me like that Princess. It's hard enough to send you upstairs alone as it is."

"Then why are you?"

"I don't wanna rush this. When I rush things I fuck them up. I don't want to fuck this up Gem. Can you understand?"

"I think so." She bit her lower lip for a moment. "I do. Night."

"Night." He let her go after one more quick, hard kiss. The longing look she sent over her shoulder ensured this time when she left him standing in the dark, it was only in the literal sense. Figuratively she left him bathed in her light and he was grateful. He silenced the end of Mandy's heartfelt song and headed downstairs.

Mia crept into the house late. Very late. She knew if Vince was still up she was in deep shit. Grown up or no he'd still be livid she'd stayed out so late without so much as a phone call. She crept up the stairs and peeked into Gem's room. She was disappointed to find her friend asleep alone. But at least Gem looked content and Vince hadn't heard her come home.

Gem found herself at work with some explaining to do the next evening. Barry and Barbara both badgered the story of why she'd gotten drunk in a Hells Angels bar out of her. Barry had been ready to go over to Vince's table and 'beat some sense into him.' Only Gem's vehement insistence that she and Vince had already worked out their differences without his interference stopped him.

On Sunday Gem finally allowed herself to think back on how she'd felt when those girls had talked about her behind her back so cruelly. In her reflections about that and the other issues she'd dealt with over the previous forty eight hours she found her next song. She wrote it in one marathon session Sunday night. She refused to leave her music room until it was done, the song pouring out of her in a flurry of pure emotion.

She wrote while she listened to all her favourite artists. Fiona Apple, Amanda Marshall, Blind Melon, Sara McLachlan and Alicia Keys. When she was done writing she went to bed. Her song took all the emotion she had to give for the time being and she fell into an exhausted sleep. When she woke up the next day she felt refreshed, better than she had in days just for having got her pent up feelings out.

She, Tamica, Elliott and Vince found time to practise the music on Wednesday. They were sure this song was going to go better than any of their other ones ever had. It was the first time they'd all heard the music played before they went on stage to perform.

As waited for the call to the stage Thursday night Gem actually felt confident in herself for the first time ever. She never felt good enough off the stage. Tonight was different. As though Vince picked up on it he smiled up at her from his typical seat in the armchair.

"You're happy tonight."

"I like this song."

"I like all your songs."

"Thanks, but I mean I really like this one."

"Good. Is Mia coming down tonight?"

"She thought so."

Before Vince could answer they were called to the stage. "Here goes." Elliott said with a grin.

As they took the stage there was some early applause from the audience. Nalia introduced them to the crowd as they hooked up their instruments.

The music started and Gem closed her eyes, waiting for her cue to begin. It came in the form of a deep chord from her bass.

"_She don't run from the sun no more, she boxed her shadow and she won. 'Said I can see you laugh, through these bottle caps and this wire around my neck ain't there for fun. But some day we'll all be old and I'll be so damn beautiful_."

Perhaps her words didn't make perfect sense to the rest of the crowd but they told a story Vince was familiar with. As she played her bass like a master she continued to sing, reaching her chorus.

"_Meanwhile I hide my head here in this paper bag 'cause if I can't see you, then you can't see me. And it'll be ok, that's right it'll be a way to where there's no more rain and I can be me_."

How she always managed to write songs that applied to everyone in their own way Tamica could never figure out. If Gem lived through everything she wrote than she lead one hell of a busy life was all she could figure. Tamica loved the new song, the lyrics having some sort of relevance to everyone who'd ever wished they could just have the ground open up and swallow them where they stood so they wouldn't have to deal with the embarrassment of whatever situation they found themselves in, all while secretly wishing they didn't have to, that they could just be themselves.

"_Yeah they talk about her. She smiles like she's so tough. She says hey, can you talk a little louder, I don't think my heart is broken enough. But someday we'll all be old and I'll be so damn beautiful_."

Elliott knew she was singing about herself in a lot of ways. But he could totally relate to what she was saying. He heard so many people talk about him but he just smiled like it didn't matter and kept going with his life. He couldn't change what other people thought. But he didn't have to like it and sometimes what they said did make him want to just hide like an ostrich with his head in the sand.

"_Meanwhile I hide my head here in this paper bag 'cause if I can't see you then you can't see me. And it'll be ok, right it'll be a way to where there's no more rain and I can be me."_

Mia watched her friend singing, wondering what it was all about. She knew this time it was personal to Gem, not like last week, she just didn't know what had made Gem feel that way. She knew it wasn't Vince. The two, while they tried to avoid her seeing it, made longing looks at each other all the time when they thought she couldn't see. But she did see. She just didn't understand why they weren't doing anything about it.

"_Some days I wait in the under tow, singing that song on the radio. I blame these puddles on the rain. You know I gotta keep these cheeks dry today. Gotta keep my cheating strategy, and maybe I'm gonna have it made. But someday we'll all be old and I'll be so damn beautiful_."

She already was beautiful if you asked him, Vince mused as she sang. Even more so when she was on stage doing what she did best. How she managed to put something so personal and painful into words and then go sing about it in public no less was always amazing to him. Of course, he found anyone who wanted to talk about their feelings strange. But he was coming around. More or less because she didn't give him any choice.

He smiled at the thought even as he played her song and watched her play her music with such passion. Was it wrong of him to want some of that passion for himself?

"_Meanwhile I hide my head, here in this paper bag, 'cause if I can't see you then you can't see me. And it'll be ok, that's right it'll be a way to where there's no more rain and I can be me._

"_And I hide my head here in this paper bag 'cause if I can't see you then you can't see me_

_And It'll be ok, and it'll be a way to where there's no more rain and I can be me._

_Where I can be me._

_I can be me, yeah._

_Where I can be me._"

The song ended on a held guitar chord and the band left the stage amid the applause being offered by the happy audience. They never seemed to know the songs were all based on things their favoured singer had gone through. They felt the emotions to be sure but never grasped just how real the lyrics actually were. That was fine by Gem. She didn't want people to know they were getting a front row seat in her head anyway. She changed back into her apron and went back to work.


	6. Breathe

AN: Hey folks. I want to take a moment to thank you all for the wonderful reviews and address a few things brought up or asked. First off, Gem's name-Gemmalynn-is a Latin/Italian name I found online. I wanted her name to be ostentatious in the face of her being nothing of the sort. As many have noticed she'd just the girl next door, with some unacknowledged emotional baggage of her own and an artistic side a mile wide. In short she's nothing like me, a departure from my norm as most of my other characters have parts of me in them, from slightly like Kat and Nyssa to pretty much all me-Storm. About all Gem and I have in common is our hatred for doing laundry, LOL. She manages to deal with her emotional issues just slightly better than Vince. The way I feel about Vince is that he has a loving side, but he doesn't have a mushy, lovey dovey in public side. I work with too many guys like Vince to ever see him that way because in reality he's just not that kind of guy. I deal with 'Vince' on a daily basis, several of them really. Too bad none of them are as hot as he is. (Hope my coworkers don't read my shit, LOL. Ya'll know we cool ;) Megan, thanks for the support chick! The wonderful thing with this story is _I_ like it. So I love getting reviews but I'm cool with the number I get. I'm actually doing this one for me, you guys liking it too is a 'Effing A' bonus, LOL. So if you like it or have anything to say than review, but hey if you just wanna read it to I'm cool with that. I'ma hang out here for awhile at least. Spiralling out of Control, thank you so much for that comment! And thanks once again to everyone else who took time to review. I really hope the chapter length isn't turning anyone off. If it is, lemme know and I'll start posting it up in chunks, like chapter 5 part one, two sorta thing. I've tried to tone the length down but I don't want to leave out any of the details that come to mind either. shrugs I don't know which way is better, all at once or in chunks. Let a girl know if you care either way folks. This chapter deals with some harsh topics later on, such as abortion, rape and death. It was a very emotional chapter to write, so just a warning. Check out Anna, she rocks! Much love to you all, Tempest. And remember, sometimes all you can do is breathe…

**Catalyst**

By – _TempestRaces_

Chapter 6 – **Breathe**

Gem woke up Sunday morning as something flopped on her bed beside her. She cracked her eyes open to see Mia fairly quivering with excitement as she sat on her sun warmed comforter.

"What time is it?" Gem rasped out, her voice still tired from the Saturday night roaring she'd had to do and the second hand smoke she'd inhaled. It was one part of her job she wouldn't miss when she cut her hours back.

She'd finally had a conversation with Barry about her plan to work for Mia so she could go back to school. He had tried to talk her out of it, the reasons he gave her because he needed her around and because he was sure she wouldn't make tips at a little café the way she could working for him. The most important reason he had went unspoken however. Gem was sure he wanted to say something about her being too involved with Mia and more importantly Vince already, and not wanting to see her even more tightly wound with them but he kept any such thoughts to himself.

"It's ten." Mia answered brightly.

"I only got home at two thirty. Why are you waking me up at ten for?" Gem asked, hating how cranky she sounded. She tried to tell herself she shouldn't feel guilty for being in a bad mood when she'd been woken up a mere seven hours after she'd gone to bed.

"You said we could go to church today. Remember?"

Gem groaned. She did remember. What had she been thinking? "Yes I remember." She'd made the commitment, it was too late to decide she didn't want to now. "I'll get ready."

Not a deeply religious person by any stretch, church had still been a part of Gem's weekly routine at home. It was something she had always done but had fallen out of doing since getting a job which kept her up late nights every Saturday. It was something Mia had confided she couldn't bring herself to do alone, despite being a devout catholic. Before the incident they rarely spoke of had occurred Dominic and Letty had attended Sunday services with Mia every week, the brother and his girlfriend simply because it was something they'd always done.

Vince, while catholic by birth, had never had religious parents or any desire to pick up his faith where they left off. Mia had always known there was no chance of talking Vince into going with her so she'd just stopped going. She had confided to Gem that she knew God didn't care that she went alone. It was just that she couldn't get past the fact all those people would be looking at her there all alone when she had use to have company and some of them would just _know_. They would _know_ why her brother and Letty didn't come anymore. Some would be angry, feeling surely living in the same house meant that Mia had condoned what was going on. But worse than that, some would have pity in their eyes. The anger Mia could deal with, could brush off. The pity she couldn't take.

"We can go out for brunch after. What are you going to wear?"

"I won't know until I get up and see what's clean. I need to do my washing today." Gem made a face. The laundry room was in the basement.

"Is that why you only do your laundry twice a month?"

"Yeah, I'm scared every time I go down there I increase my chances of never coming back. The place is a sad, scary mess."

"I know what you mean." Mia answered.

Gem couldn't help but think that Mia's agreement hadn't been as enthusiastic as it could have been but she let it go. Mia left for her own room to get dressed and Gem got up with a groan for her tired legs. She felt like she needed about another three hours sleep to just feel half alive.

A short sleeve jersey knit sweater in pale blue and black skirt later she decided she would do, just as soon as she brushed her hair. That done she headed downstairs to find Mia. She found her friend in the kitchen, arguing with Vince about why she didn't have time to cook him breakfast before she left.

"Vince, if we don't leave right now we're going to be late getting there and we're not going to get seats."

"I don't know why you wanna go anyway. What's God done for us lately?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer. If you're so darn hungry than make your own breakfast." Mia turned away from Vince and saw Gem in the kitchen doorway. "Good, you're ready."

"I'm ready, but I'm not sure I'm totally awake yet."

"See, you shouldn't be waking Gem up this early when she worked last night anyway."

"It's ok, I said I'd go and I don't mind going. I have tomorrow off, I'll sleep in then."

"We'll get you a coffee on the way." Mia said as she picked up her keys from the kitchen counter and headed for the back door. Gem followed her through the kitchen. She heard Vince's chair scrape back from the table and his heavier steps fall in step behind her.

"If you can hang on for about an hour and a half I'll try and convince her to come back here for a second to get you before we go out to brunch." Gem said as she paused at the back door of the house. She knew Vince was right on her heels.

"I'll find something to do me until then but you better come back. Otherwise I might starve."

"I somehow doubt that," Gem looked over her shoulder at Vince with a smirk. He had been gaining weight lately but it sure wasn't in body fat. "But I'm sure I can talk her into letting you come with us."

"Ok, see you then."

"See you." Gem walked out of the house and down the stairs to the backyard before following the path around the house to the driveway where Mia was waiting. They headed off down the street for the church Mia had attended before everything had fallen apart.

An hour later they were on their way home again. Mia parked the car at the curb and Gem got out to go and tell Vince they were back. She crossed to the front door and pushed in. "Vince!" She called as she stepped into the front hall. "You ready?"

"Yeah, just a second." Vince called up from downstairs. He immerged into the hallway a moment later.

Gem could only shake her head at him, smiling even though she knew she shouldn't be. Here were her and Mia, all dressed up in their Sunday best clothes and there was Vince, wearing the same jeans he'd worn to work the day before and a dark green tank top. He hadn't shaved in days and while some would believe his hair was in artful disarray it actually simply hadn't been brushed since he'd gotten out of his bed.

But somehow, when it was Vince, it worked.

Any other guy she'd ever met would look like a bum in dirty jeans with his hair unbrushed but Vince just somehow managed to pull it off. It could be a function of the fact he honestly wasn't aware there was anything wrong with how he looked and therefore gave off a confident vibe or it could be that the man he was just honestly didn't care about clothes or hair and because he didn't really care you couldn't help but not care right along with him. In any event, Gem was sure instead of getting dirty looks, like so many guys would if they went into any restaurant other than Burger King looking like Vince was looking, he would only get longing looks from any females who saw him and jealous looks from many of the guys.

Or maybe it was just that Gem was finding the old fashioned man who still worked for a living getting his hands dirty and thought, albeit erroneously, that a real man just put up and shut up and didn't whine or heck, admit he had problems was the kind of man who appealed to her. Which would certainly explain a lot. Like why none of the guys she'd ever gone out with before had made her feel anything but the most perfunctory interest in them and keeping their presence in her life. It would also explain why the things those other men did didn't have the power to make her care much either way, had never tested her ability to keep her cool. Not like Vince, who could make her forget she was a lady with a few hastily chosen words said in _that_ tone of voice with _that_ look on his face.

He made her laugh, he made her cry, and it was more than any other guy had ever managed to do. She still wasn't sure if she liked it or not, but she was trying to be open to the fact that she just might. It was hard to think of not wanting him in what ever way he wanted her to have him when he was standing there looking at her.

"You ready?" She asked again, just to end the moment, and put an end to her thoughts.

"Yeah. Where we going anyway?"

"I don't really know. Mia seems to and I never thought to ask her."

"Well, I'm fuckin' starving so let's just get goin'."

"I'm starting to see that Mia's fairy tales about you and how much you can eat weren't figments of her imagination."

For the longest time Gem had been unable to juxtapose the Vince she knew who rarely ate to the one Mia told of in her stories who did almost nothing but. However, in the last few weeks Vince had rediscovered his love of eating. The amounts he could pack away had shocked her. He could out eat each of her brothers. Maybe even both of them at the same time. It was hard to miss the extra muscle on his-which had become almost wiry-frame. He was, Mia had confided, returning to his former bulk.

Of course, Mia had also confided that Vince had had reason to need his bulk in his previous activities. It was as Gem had always guessed. While big himself, Dom used Vince almost like a hired tough. Even though Dom was big and strong enough to do his own dirty work, when it came right down to it he sent Vince to do the dirtiest of it, only involving himself when something aroused his anger to the point where he couldn't hold back.

Gem had thought to ask what would happen if Vince and Dominic ever went head to head. A look of genuine fear had crossed Mia's face. She'd almost stammered through her confession that it had happened once and they didn't really like to talk about it. She would only confess that the hospital had been up two patients overnight and that the two hot heads hadn't spoken for weeks after. The way Mia told it bones had been broken and the only reason it stopped was because Letty had tossed herself between them and all it took was for a close call from each of them almost hitting Letty instead of each other and they backed off.

Otherwise they would likely have fought until one or the other was a breath away from death. Mia refused to speculate on which one would have been left standing. From the pictures she'd seen, Gem guessed Dominic had more physical strength but she would bet real money that Vince was a hundred times more tenacious. He'd win or die trying. He was the most stubborn person she'd ever met.

"I used to like to eat." Vince admitted as he started to crowd Gem out the door.

"Used to?"

"Well, lately I'm startin' to think about savin' up some energy for late nights."

"Why? You keep late nights at the bar all the time." Gem's forehead wrinkled in thought. She looked back over her shoulder again and caught the leer on his face. "Oh." She squeaked, a blush creeping into her cheeks as she got the implication. He chuckled.

"Come on. Let's go before Mia mounts a search party. You might be starting to figure she likes things to happen on her schedule."

"Yeah, I did pick up on that this morning when she threw herself on my bed and stared at me until I woke up." Gem said as she giggled, pulling open the front door. She found Mia on the step about to push the door open from her side. "Cripes Mia, have some patience. We were on our way out."

"Gem, you have visitors." Mia said, her tone unsure. "At least I think you do. I know I've never seen that car before. I thought I'd get you out of the house to find out who they are." Mia pointed at a black Toyota Corolla parked at the curb behind Gem's Honda. "They've been sitting there talking for the last few minutes and I can only figure they must know you. I've never seen them before."

Gem looked up and took in the car at the curb. She started down the steps slowly, until the car doors opened and two men got out. Then, with a happy squeal, Gem tore off down the lawn and threw herself at the closest of them. He caught her with a smile, swinging her up into his arms and around in a circle before setting her down close to the other man. Gem and the second man hugged, though not as enthusiastically as with the first one.

The second man said something to Gem and whatever it was it caused her to look over her shoulder at where Mia and Vince were still standing. The look on her face wasn't a happy one.

Vince fought a growl. Who were they? They just land and Gem is hugging them looking happy and then the next second she looks upset. He moved to push past Mia to go to Gem's side. Mia held out her arm to stop him. He growled at her. She shot him a look which clearly stated not to interfere.

Yet.

Gem sent a longing look over her shoulder as she caught an earful. Of all the times for her brothers to show up! She had been looking forward to a nice Sunday brunch with her friends and now she was catching the third degree from Doug while Nick looked on, unwilling to interrupt his formidable older brother, even if the look on his face did give away the fact he thought Doug was crossing the line.

"And then I find out from mom you _were_ living in a boarding house but moved out of there and into the home of two strangers." Doug finished his rant. At least, for the moment.

"I suppose it was a good thing I didn't ask your opinion on my living situation then." Gem said. She was glad to note that her ability to keep her calm was still in place when it came to her brothers.

"I just want to know what you were thinking," Doug stated. "I can't believe you just moved in with strangers with out even telling us first. You don't know them. What if one of them was a serial killer or something?"

"Than I'd be dead by now." Gem answered. "I'm fine because they're just two people who gave me a place to stay when I needed one _because_ I needed one and because they needed the extra money. Besides, since I don't have Nicky around anymore I was lucky to find Vince. He's been keeping the Honda on the road."

"You still drive that thing?" Nick, Gem's second brother broke into the conversation.

Doug was the oldest. Nick came next, two years behind Doug, and Gem was the baby. She was three years younger than Nick. Doug, at twenty seven, tended to act like a second father more than a brother and it about drove Gem nuts.

"Yes I still drive it and I'd rather not talk about it."

"Why?" Doug asked, his analytical mind clearly going into overdrive.

"Because Vince is constantly at me to replace it and I'm constantly telling him that I can't afford to right now. I don't want to have the same conversation with you." Gem realized how rude she was being to leave her friends standing on their step while she fought with her brother. She turned to Vince and Mia. "Guys, come meet my brothers."

Brothers! That explained it. Vince was glad to know Gem knew the men but wasn't sure how he felt about meeting Gem's family. He still followed Mia down the lawn.

"This is my oldest brother Douglas." Gem said as she pointed at the dark haired man on her left. "Doug this is Vince and Mia."

Doug shook hands with both people he was introduced to. With Mia he was polite and cordial. When he and Vince shook hands it took longer than strictly necessary and it was clear each man was trying to out grip the other. From the look on Doug's face, Vince won the little clash of wills. Gem and Mia rolled their eyes. Gem continued her introductions.

"This is Nicholas, the middle child but also my older brother."

To Mia, Nick looked like a male Gem. He had dark blond hair, tanned skin and aquamarine eyes. He stood about six foot and was lean and muscular. Mia recalled that Nick was the military pilot. That made Doug the aspiring lawyer. Even though she'd done nothing wrong, Doug made her nervous. Nick shook hands with Mia first, then Vince. Rather than attempt to outgrip the bigger man, Nick simply shook his hand firmly with a toothy grin.

"So you're the poor sap who got suckered into working on the Honda when my little sister ran away from home?"

"Yeah, I've been working on it but I gotta tell ya, whoever was before was really dropping the ball. The damn thing had next to no brakes and an exhaust like a sieve."

"Vince!" Gem admonished, slightly embarrassed that Vince was showing his surly temper to her brothers the first time they ever met. She was also confused. When had her brakes and exhaust been called into question? "You never told me about any of that stuff."

"Um," Vince fought for an explanation as to why he'd done work to her car without telling her about it. "You seemed so upset about the starter. I didn't want to tell you that you needed all that other stuff too so I just fixed it."

"But I didn't even know you then."

"I know." Vince looked down at Gem. He couldn't tell her in front of her brothers that he'd been unable to think of her driving around in a car that might get her killed and therefore render her unable to show up to work and serve him his drinks while verbally sparring with him. The look that passed between them was intense. The fact he couldn't stand to have harm come to her, even back when he hadn't known her definitely came across in his shining blue eyes.

"Why was he working on your car if you didn't even know him?" Doug asked, his suspicion of Vince clear on his face. It was only intensified by the fact he'd caught the look which had passed between his sister and the shaggy haired man she lived with.

"It's what we do down at the garage I own. We work on cars." Vince answered in a growl before Gem could answer. Doug's snap judgement of him didn't go unnoticed. It pissed Vince off for reasons he didn't understand. He was quite used to not caring what strangers thought of him. It bothered him to care what these two men thought of him just because they were related to Gem. He didn't want to want to impress them.

"You're a real mechanic then?" Nick asked Vince, who only nodded in answer. "Score! I never claimed to be good at it. Gem just never wanted to take the car to the garage because she was always saving up for something more important like better bass strings or computer programs and accessories for her recording. I learned to fix cars just so hers wouldn't go totally unrepaired."

"It's time it went unrepaired and went to the scrap yard." Vince said vehemently.

Gem punched him in the arm. "That's my car. You don't have to like it for me to drive it."

"I don't have to like the idea of it stranding you some night on your way home from work either." Vince retorted. "What would you do if it died on the side of I95 at two am?"

"You work a lot of nights?" Doug asked in a deceptively conversational tone.

Mia could totally see him being at home in a courtroom. She would be willing to bet that he would have no trouble tricking witnesses into telling him more than they wanted to by turning on the charm.

Gem looked stricken. Mia wondered if she'd ever told her brothers or family just where she worked. Gem straightened her back.

"I only work evenings as a matter of fact."

"Why's that?"

"Because I work in a pub." Gem answered Doug's question and her chin rose in preparation for the blow-up she was sure was on its way.

"Get your stuff together! I'm taking you home." Doug bit out, pointing at the house.

"I am home." Gem snapped back. "I'm perfectly fine here."

"You are not going to continue to work in a bar!" Doug's voice rose as his composure started to slip. "You were supposed to be here trying to get a contract to sing, not to work in a bar."

"I am trying to get a contract to sing! But you don't just walk into a record company and say 'I'd like to sing please'. You have to get discovered. The Cobalt has open mic night and the owner lets me off work to sing. Barry is very good to me and I've made lots of new friends since I started there. Not to mention forming a band with some of those friends and we sound really good."

"Why don't we just go out to get our brunch and you guys can continue catching up then?" Mia broke in with a smile, always trying to be the peacemaker. She wanted to disfuss the situation she felt growing between Gem, her brothers and Vince.

"That's a great idea Mia." Gem turned to her brothers. "You two can follow us in Doug's car."

Doug and Nick watched as Gem, Mia and Vince got into Vince's Maxima. They had no choice but get into the Toyota and follow if they wanted to continue to talk to their sister.

"She's not a baby Doug. She's too old for you to run her life for her." Nick said as he reclined into the bucket seat of the Corolla and ran a hand through his sandy coloured hair, which was cropped short around his head, except on top where it was allowed to grow slightly longer. In any event it was clear his last haircut had been government funded.

"Did you see that guy she lives with? Mark my words, he's bad news."

"How do you figure?"

"You see the car he drives? See the baby blue one in the driveway? They're those car racing types, the ones you hear about on the news."

"Making judgements about the man based on the cars in his driveway is pretty thin Doug. For someone who says he wants to defend and uphold the law in court you sure are quick to make snap judgements without proof."

"Please. The car and the tattoos are proof enough, Nick. Don't delude yourself. I want to work for the crown, not the defence. It's going to be my job to put men like him in jail in the future."

"I can't believe you. Did you see our sister while she was talking to us Doug? Or did you look right past her to your own agenda?"

"What about her?"

"She was happy. She looked good too, all tan and I think she even lost weight since she moved out here. Besides, it's not like she only lives with the guy. The other girl lives there too."

"I didn't like how he looked at her. Like he had the right to save her from us. We're her brothers."

"Exactly. We're not her father or keeper, just her brothers. Unless she wants our help and asks for it we have no right to tell her where she can and can't work or live."

"I just know that guy is bad news. I'm going to find out who he is and when I do I'll make her see she doesn't belong there."

They pulled up behind the azure Nissan in front of a small restaurant. Gem and her friends were already standing on the sidewalk out front of the establishment. Doug and Nick joined them and they entered, waiting to be seated.

A waitress led them to a table and left them with menus. Gem and Mia started to peruse the breakfast menu. Vince skipped right to lunch as both girls had pretty much known he would. Doug and Nick picked up their menus and started to look over what was offered as well.

"What're you getting?" Vince, who was seated beside Gem, leaned over and asked her in a low tone.

"I don't know yet. Why? You already hoping I can't finish whatever I order?" Gem's answering question was accompanied by a smirk.

"Of course."

Mia laughed. "At least there's never leftovers to worry about with you around V."

"I try to do my share around the house." Vince said as he leaned back in his chair with a grin, tossing a casual arm over the back of Gem's chair.

Nick and Doug shared a look. Doug's end of it did not look pleased. "So, how long have you all known each other?" He asked. He tried to make it seem like an innocent question. He failed to hide the prying behind the question however.

"Gosh!" Gem had to stop and think. "I guess I've known Vince for about a month now, a little longer and I've been living with Mia for three weeks or so. It feels like we've always known each other to me though."

"Awwww." Mia drawled out with a smile and leaned over to hug her friend. Gem returned the hug with a grin.

"So, you own a garage right?" Nick asked, directing his question to Vince trying to be polite and make some conversation that Vince could appreciate and participate in.

"Yeah. Well," Vince paused, his forehead furrowed as he thought about how to explain it. "I manage it. I'm really a half owner I guess. My partner moved out of the country so I'm alone with it now. I spend most of my life under a car there so I guess I just think of it like it was mine now."

"And that's just fine because Mia and I can hardly pump our own gas." Gem tossed out. "But at least Mia's car isn't about to disintegrate around her."

"Mom and dad would help you buy a new car if you moved back to San Francisco."

"I'm sure they would Doug. The catch is I have no desire to wait tables and play hostess for the rest of my life."

"I got some money coming to me from the Navy in the next few months. I'll send you some."

"Gosh Nicky! Does that mean you finally got stationed someplace permanently?"

"Yeah. Sorta." His face broke out into a huge grin. "I got into Top Gun."

"Really?" Gem asked with a gasp.

"Yeah. They're going to teach me to fly the F-16. The only pilots who aren't Air Force who get to fly the F-16 are Top Gun Navy pilots."

"I'm so proud of you!" Gem said as she got up and rushed around the table to hug her brother, who stood up to catch her and hug her back.

He was unable to stop smiling. Top Gun had been something he'd been, well, gunning for. Ever since he'd seen the 80's movie featuring the school. It wasn't half as glamorous as the movie had made it out to be. The Navy had only thought of it as fighter weapons training until they'd taken the name Top Gun by popular consensus. It really was a school for the most talented naval pilots and getting in was an accomplishment. His mom and dad weren't happy with his choice because they knew the odds he'd see active duty were very good. They were also very proud of him.

"Doesn't that mean you're going to have to be stationed to Nevada?" Gem asked as she sat back down.

"For 9 weeks. Then I'll be sent back to my unit right here in California."

"Don't you have to stay where the planes are?" Mia asked.

"We have planes on the base I'm with. The Top Gun movie gave the wrong impression of naval flying in general and of the real point behind Top Gun. The graduates went right out to war in the movie. In real life my job as a Top Gun graduate is to go back to my unit and improve the other pilots flying techniques."

"Nick is one hell of a pilot."

"Thanks sis but this assignment is going to test everything I've ever learned."

"So Doug, how goes school?" Gem turned to her oldest sibling.

"Good." Doug answered, still more interested in staring down Vince than in small talk.

The waitress returned to their table and everyone ordered. "You must be almost done now." Gem continued.

"I'm working on my masters before I make any decisions so I have another year to go. I'm thinking of taking the Bar though. If I go that route I'll have to find a barrister to do my reading period with."

"I can't believe I'm your sister. Either of you. Here are the two of you, educated and getting great jobs and here I am. My two choices keep working in a bar trying to get discovered or run home to my mom and dad and work for them for the rest of my life." Gem smiled to show that as plain as she spelled her situation out it didn't really have her that down.

"Or, barring that, you could go back to school and get your arts degree in music and teach." Doug said. "San Francisco has a great music program."

"So does UCLA." Mia said, looking up from her plate. She caught Doug's dirty look. "I mean, so I've heard."

"Mia's premed at UCLA." Gem said, giving Doug a look that clearly dared him to have something to say to that.

"Really?" Nick asked, his attention focused sharply on Mia once she'd made her admission.

Mia found the attention of his intelligent aquamarine eyes flattering. She knew he was just interested in his sister's life. Not like the other one, who she knew was out to make trouble for them all every time she felt his navy blue eyes on her. Or Vince.

"Yeah. Well, I had to drop out last year when things got tough at home. But since Gem's going to work part time in my store and cover some of my hours I can finally go back and finish."

"What made you decide to pursue medicine?"

"My brother," Mia's eyes lost focus as she drifted off into her thoughts. "I think he pressured me into it because he wanted me to be able to put him back together when he crashed." She shook her head slightly and focused on Nick again. "But when I got started I liked the idea of it. It's a lot of work and a demanding job. But it's pretty rewarding too."

"Do you know what you want to specialize in yet?" Doug asked. He was genuinely interested, Gem noted with interest.

"Not really. Family medicine likely, maybe paediatrics."

"Doctor Mia Toretto. Has a nice ring to it."

"Stop Gem. I'm only premed. I have a long way to go yet. Like getting into med school, passing MCATs."

Doug made a note to remember the dark girl's last name and wondered how he could go about finding out the full name of the large man with his arm still across the back of his sister's chair. There was more to the story about the missing business partner and Doug was going to find out just what the story was.

They all finished up and after getting their bills went to leave. Doug noted with displeasure that Vince was picking up the bill for both girls. There might be some truth in Nick's statement that someone who had decided to spend his life attempting to show that justice was blind shouldn't make snap judgements based on someone's looks. But from the moment he'd seen the shaggy haired, tattooed man he had made up his mind that his little sister had no business being involved with him.

The girls and Vince paid first and went to wait outside on the sidewalk.

"You need to lay off her Doug. You're just going to make things worse if you get any pushier. She's going to just blow up and tell you where you can get off."

"It's not my fault you can't see that guy is bad news." Doug pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, told the cashier to add his brother's bill to his own and handed over his Visa card.

Nick continued with a smile of thanks to his brother to be polite before the jovial look left his face and his scowl returned. He watched the clerk swipe the card as he spoke. "You don't know that. You know he's a mechanic who has more ink than you find respectable."

"He's rough and the story about the business partner who just left the country didn't sit right. Why did the guy just up and leave his business? I'd bet anything he's the missing brother who pushed Mia into medicine, so why did he leave his sister here? How'd this Vince character end up with those scars on his forearm? This story isn't adding up right at all. Listen, I've been training to spot stories that don't ring true and that one doesn't."

"So what? Gem is happy. Why isn't that enough?"

Doug took his credit card back from the cashier and put it back into his wallet, which he then slid back into the back pocket of his slacks. "It's fine that she's happy. That's for now. What happens when this loser breaks her heart and she lives in the same house so she can't even get away from him?"

"Doug, you've felt that way about almost every guy she's ever dated. She knows that mom and dad are waiting for her to come running home as it is so if, and I stress if, Vince is bad news than she can go home to 'Frisco. Besides, they never said anything to make me believe they're more than friends."

"Then Nick," Doug looked at his brother in exasperation. "You weren't looking at the same two people I was. Just friends don't look at each other the way our sister and that man look at each other when they think no one is looking."

"I still say she's old enough to make her own mistakes, even if Vince is one of them."

"I'm going to figure out what about him bugs me. Just wait and see." Doug pushed the door of the restaurant open and joined his sister and her friends outside. A fake look of affability replaced the ire on Doug's face. "I guess we're heading back home now. We just wanted to check up on you since we hardly ever hear from you."

"It was nice seeing you again. I miss being close to you guys. I'll try to make time to call more. Tell mom and dad I miss them and love them." Gem asked. "Be careful Nick. Call me when you get there."

"I will." Nick hugged Gem tight and got into the passenger side of the Toyota.

"Be careful coming home from this bar. I might just drop in someday to check it out." Doug said as he looked down at Gem.

"I am careful Doug. Come by some Thursday around eight and see us play."

"Ok. See you." Doug didn't hug his sister again, but simply put his hand on her shoulder for a moment and moved off to his car.

The three others watched the black car pull off, then got into their own with Vince driving and Gem riding shotgun, Mia in the rear. "Well, that went well." Gem said.

"Your brothers don't like me much." Vince answered.

"Doug doesn't like anyone new to him much. He has a suspicious mind. It comes from being involved in the law and seeing the darker side of human nature all the time. He has it in his head he wants to be a crown prosecutor." Gem reassured. "Nick liked you fine. A genuine mechanic is something exciting to him."

"Yeah, I can see why a Navy fighter pilot would feel that way." Vince answered sarcastically.

"You find his job exotic, he finds yours that way. Everyone thinks things they aren't good at are somehow more elite than what they do." Gem shrugged. "A lot of people would find the fact you play guitar well when they can't carry a tune makes you better than them. Where as they might be super at math and you can't understand it. Nicky's always been jealous of the way I can sing when he can't carry a tune. It's one of the things that make the world interesting."

"I guess."

"She's right," Mia added. "The way Jesse could work the internet always made me so jealous because the darn computer hates me. But Jesse hated the way I could get the wax to apply so smooth on the cars when he could never make them shine. Neither of those things is really a big deal but when it's something you can't do no matter how much you'd like to it really feels like one."

"I see that, I suppose." Vince answered without much conviction and switched lanes to pass a slow moving Crown Victoria. He sighed. "Speaking of things you don't want to do it's time I washed the RX-7 and Skyline again."

"You should take the cars for a drive too or they're going to rot out in that little shed." Mia said reproachfully from the back seat. Her position on keeping all the cars had already been made quite clear.

"Wanna help me?" Vince addressed Gem. "I'll wash you dry, then we'll take them for a spin."

"Sure. But if there are two cars I'm washing one. I'll dry the other."

"I'll do the seven, you do the Skyline. Deal?"

"Sure."

"I wouldn't mind getting some sun. I'll wax." Mia said.

When they got home the girls changed into their bathing suits and Vince changed into shorts instead of his jeans. He moved the cars out of the shed onto the front lawn while Mia and Gem tracked down buckets, car soap, washmitts and sponges.

They got started once they had all the supplies gathered together between the two cars. Mia decided to clean the rims and dress the tires while she waited for the other two to clean and dry their respective charges.

Gem was rinsing off the yellow car which had been given to her to wash when she saw Mia crouched down beside the red Mazda applying tire shine to the rubber on the car's 18 inch Veilside rims. She couldn't resist the urge; she turned the water on Mia and hit her square in the back.

Mia squealed and jumped up out of her crouching position and spun around to find Gem calmly rinsing soap bubbles off the yellow paint of Leon's car.

"You!" Mia sputtered.

"What?" Gem asked innocently.

"You splashed me."

"I did not. I'm just washing a car here Mia. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really?" Mia asked, disbelieving. Vince was watching the action with a smirk on his face.

"Really."

"Ok." Mia bent back over to where she had been cleaning. She stood back up with a wet sponge and heaved it at Gem. It connected against Gem's breastbone with a wet slapping noise before falling to the ground between the blonde's feet.

"Hey!" Gem shouted, watching as water ran down her torso and down her legs.

"What?" Mia asked, her face schooled into the same look of calm innocence as Gem's had been.

"You hit me with a wet sponge."

"Did not."

As Mia started Gem's way with a bucket of water and Gem headed Mia's with the hose Vince went and got his own bucket of cold water. Just as the two females were about to clash in the middle of the lawn he tossed the water over both of them. They forgot about each other in a heartbeat and turned their attention to him as they gasped in shock from the icy water. "I had to break up the cat fight before it got started is all." Vince smirked as he delivered his smug explanation.

In a split second Gem had the hose turned on Vince full blast. He caught the first wave in his chest but she moved quickly to nail him in the face. He came up sputtering, slightly disoriented as both girls laughed at his expense. As he shook the water out of his hair and wiped it off his face the girls caught the look in his eyes. Only one thing was obvious from the look on his face.

Revenge.

"Uh oh." Gem squeaked as she and Mia took off running down the driveway. They couldn't run very fast in flip flops and it wasn't long before Vince was striding confidently back up the driveway toward the hose, one struggling female under each arm as he carried them toward their punishment.

A few minutes later there were three very cold, wet friends washing some cars on the lawn. They laughed as they finished up, showing it had all been a game in good fun and there were no hard feelings. Even if for Vince, it was hard to not look around to see if they were staring at him because he'd given up on his sodden tank top after he'd turned the hose onto Gem and Mia to get back at them.

He was still self conscious. Were they staring at his scars? Was he too skinny? Too pale? He hated the fact that he thought about these things now. A short year ago he'd have been strutting around knowing girls were staring at him, whether they really were or not. Now he was almost scared he was revolting them instead.

"I guess we're going to have to go get dressed before we go for those drives huh?" Gem asked as she walked up behind Vince. While he'd been busy thinking she'd been busy drying off the Skyline. It now sat gleaming behind her. Vince turned to face her before answering. Her red suit looked good beside Leon's yellow car.

"Why? This is California in the summer. I don't think anyone would think anything of a couple people in a fast car wearing swimwear."

"Maybe not, but we _would_ get the seats all wet."

"Not like Dom or Leon are around to care." Vince shrugged. "They'll dry."

"Ok, which one first then?"

"RX-7." Vince answered without thought. "Just let me check the oil and we'll head out."

"You coming with Mia?"

"That car has no back seat." Mia answered. "You two go ahead. I'm going to start waxing the Skyline. I might even wash my car too."

"You sure?" Gem asked, not wanting to leave Mia out, hurt her feelings.

"I'm sure. Go have fun. I'll stay here and enjoy the thought that my brother would hate to know someone else was driving around in his car."

Gem got into the front seat of the RX-7 smiling. She didn't want to think too hard on why. She didn't like the aspect of herself she was discovering. The part that made her happy to do something that would upset someone else just because she didn't like the person. Yet, the thought of doing something Dominic would hate filled her with a feeling that felt strangely like happiness.

Vince slammed the hood closed after adding half a quart of engine oil and slid behind the wheel. He started the car up and put it into reverse gear, backing off the lawn and down the driveway. He slammed into first and revved the rotary engine up to almost eight thousand rpm. His footwork with gas and brake allowed him to execute a textbook brake burnout. Smoke billowed off the rear wheel drive tires and the screeching noise was deafening. Then with a snappy movement he pushed and dumped the clutch, still revving the car close to eight thousand rpm in first. The car took off down the road, the rear end sliding from side to side in a fishtail as flames shot out of the dual exhaust. He laughed at the look on Gem's face.

"You didn't do that with your car."

"Much as I like my car, it's nothing like this one. This one is made for racing, for speed, and not much else. It's a lot more fun to fuck around with rear wheel drive."

"Do you think we have any tires left on this thing now?"

"Enough for a few more burnouts. Why, you wanna do a few more?"

"Not especially."

"I thought we got past this when we went for our drive."

"That was in your car at night. This is the middle of the daytime in a strange car."

"It might be strange to you but no matter what Mia says I've driven this car plenty in my day. There was a time when Dom and I both raced it. Van Toretto bought it for Dom but it was always understood we were both going to learn to race with it. I've won my fair share in this car. Not like it is now, but how it was before Dom started rolling big time."

"When did you get the Maxima then?"

"About three years ago. When we started, well, doing what we were doing. I used the money I got from the first one to buy it. First new car I ever bought."

"It was new when you got it?"

"Yeah. Of course then I had to do all the mods and the paint. It took forever to pick that colour. The only colour I ever liked and it's off a Dodge Viper. It cost like five grand to paint."

"My whole car only cost two thousand and that was four years ago."

"Four years too fuckin long." Vince mumbled.

"I'll buy a new car when I get a little more money. I need to get a new set of strings-"

"-For the bass." Vince cut her off, finishing her sentence with her own brother's words.

"Yeah. Ha ha, very funny. But trying to get Indigo Sound discovered and a record deal is more important than me having a fancy car right now."

"What about if we forego fancy and just go for functional?"

"The Civic is totally functional, thank you." Gem sat back in the seat and stared out the side window as the waterfront scenery flew by.

"Why are you so attached to that damn car?"

"Why are you so attached to these darn cars?"

"Because this car is all I have left of someone I," Vince paused, clearing his throat as he looked for the right word for what he felt for Dominic. "Loved." He finished gruffly, hating to make the admission out loud.

"You have Mia. She's his sister."

"I wasn't talking about Dom. Well, maybe I was, but he wasn't my main point. I was talking about Mr. Toretto."

"Oh. You must have spent a lot of time around Dom and Mia's as a kid."

"Me'n Letty both. Neither of us had it great at home. Single parent homes with various temporary step parents don't tend to be the best places to grow up. Sometimes we'd get lucky and get the good ones but it was the good ones our crazy mothers drove off fastest. Mostly you got unlucky, and got the ones even crazier than your actual parent."

"What happened when your mom died?"

"I woulda went into foster care but Dom's father took me in instead. I guess to him it was all the same. Letty and I were always there anyway. He just musta looked at it like he had four kids not two. Letty pretty much never went home either. She stopped going home all together when Dom's dad died. She was only sixteen at the time, Mia's age. Dom was only eighteen. Why he didn't get tried as a juvenile I never figured out."

"Because when he beat that guy almost to death he didn't swing the wrench like a kid?" Gem asked. She wished she had thought before she spoke when she saw Vince wince.

"Yeah, but he hadn't been in the adult world enough years to learn to control his temper. He sure as fuck learned how in jail though. I never did."

"Learn how to control your temper in jail?" Gem asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah. Jail taught me a lot of things but control over my temper wasn't part of it."

"You've done time?" Gem's shock was evident in her voice.

"Yeah, and not for a heat of the moment crime like Dom either." Vince convinced himself he owed it to Gem to be honest. "I did a year for armed robbery, resisting arrest, and aggravated assault. They sentenced me concurrently so I only did a year, but I did the whole thing. Of course, there was no good behaviour for me."

"Why?"

"Why what? Why did I try to rob the liquor store?"

"Sure, that's a good place to start." Gem had many questions. She wasn't sure how many of them she could safely ask Vince without making him angry but while he seemed willing to talk she would simply be willing to listen.

"We needed the money mostly. Dom was already in jail, the garage was doing poorly and I had both girls at home to worry about." He lifted one shoulder in a sanguine shrug. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. Then the clerk fought back and I beat him down to get away but the cops were on me like white on rice from the second I squealed out of the parking lot. The whole thing pretty much backfired in my face. The girls were left alone anyway and while Dom got minimum security I got maximum so we weren't even in the same place."

"What was it like in prison?" Gem asked softly.

"'Bout how you'd think. A lot of rules, a lot of tough guys." Vince shrugged dismissively, not wanting to talk about how being incarcerated had made him feel. "You did everything on their schedule. I was enough of a bad ass to make the staff's lives hell and they returned the favour. I kept to myself a lot and the other prisoners left me alone. A few of them started shit with me but I was always quick to finish it. When Dom went in he was wiry, a lot like Leon, if Mia's ever showed you pictures. He came out huge. He had to get big inside as a protection measure and for something to do. I was always, as the social workers put it, a big boy. Big enough to warn people that if they started shit with me I was more than ready to oblige them in returning the favour."

"Mia says Dom's time in changed him. Did it do the same to you?"

"Yeah, but it went the other way. Dom came out with his emotions in a strangle hold. I came out more determined to be wild and rebellious than ever. You know, from the time Dom got out of jail right up until everything went to shit I can count on one had the number of times I've seen him smile. Like really smile. He used to have a big, goofy grin on his face a lot of the time. But when he got out of jail the only look he seemed to have with any frequency was that stoic, reserved look."

"Dominic must have been afraid of what he was capable of when he was angry. You said it was out of character for him to beat up that other man, that he only did it because of his grief for his father. Perhaps he was scared if he let himself let go of his feelings he'd do something horrible again."

"I have no doubt that was it. But it was like I went the other way. I didn't care if I did something else horrible. I took to carrying my 9mm everywhere I went. It's not like I'm proud of it now but there was a time when I was friends with some pretty bad guys. Almost like I went looking for more trouble. Well, more trouble found me. It was how we got into the truck thing in the first place. I knew a guy who hooked us up." Vince took the turn that ended them back up on their own street. They'd given the Mazda a good run while they'd been talking.

Vince parked the car back in the shed and they got into the Skyline. Mia refused their offer to come with them, seeing as the Skyline did have a back seat. She claimed to have had enough sun and outdoors and to be ready for a rest.

It was fine with Vince, honestly. He was enjoying his time with Gem alone, getting to know her better. It was, in his mind, part of taking the thing he felt between them slow. She had to know all there was to know so she could make up her mind honestly if she wanted anything to do with him or not. Especially now that her older brother was going to be poking and prodding into his past. Vince knew that Doug would dig and when he did he would find the prison time, the accusations regarding the trucks, the petty crimes he had committed but not done time for.

And when he did he was going to come looking to make Gem leave. He didn't want to see shock and revulsion appear on her face as her brother spilled all his secrets. He thought if he spilled them himself, confided in her she would take it better. If he was honest she would surely take it as a sign he'd really grown up and matured beyond his criminal ways.

They climbed into the yellow Skyline and Vince started it up. It started on the first try but sputtered like it was going to stall out.

It was showing the effects of sitting around in storage without a driver to take it out for fast runs. Evening knowing it was just a car and didn't have feelings, Vince still felt bad for the fact it was being neglected. But he was still not decided on what he wanted to do with the RX-7, Skyline, or Silvia. The Jetta would be going home soon enough. Jesse's dad was due out in a month's time.

Some nagging feeling he had told him if he sold the cars he'd regret it. On the other hand if he didn't sell them they were going to fall apart in a shed. But selling them to someone else wasn't something he was willing to take responsibility for, he realized. Maybe Mia would have to do it. He might be able to reconcile their loss if it wasn't him that caused it to happen. He might have to talk about that with Mia. But it would mean opening up to her, to someone else, that he still harboured hope that Dominic, Leon and Letty would wander back into the house and back into his life someday. And that was something that Mia and Gem both seemed sure would never happen. Moreover, Gem seemed convinced it wasn't something he should even want.

"So how did the cars come to have the graphics on them that they do?" Gem asked, shocking him out of his thoughts.

"Letty."

"How so?"

"Letty designed them all for us."

"Why doesn't yours have a coyote on it then?"

"Because when it came to the streets the shark was more apt."

"Dom got a rocket ship why?"

"He's just that fast. Jesse got the guy on the bomb because the car kinda was one. It's really not that fast. Fast enough I guess, but not like everyone else's."

"So how did she arrive at Leon's?"

"The guy on the side is Leon in a lot of ways. The green line for his green eyes, the sword because Leon is something of a martial artist himself, and since the car is Japanese."

"I see. What's on Letty's?"

"A girl getting pulled along the side. It's hard to describe but when she explained it to me she said the girl on the side is tied to the car and no matter what she's along for the ride. I imagine Letty felt like that with Dom some times."

"Because of how he treated her?"

"Yeah, that and because he bought her car for her. She was pretty attached to it. But she was always along with Dom for the ride. Not a lot of what went down was something anyone but Dom had any control over. But he really loved Letty. I think it finally occurred to him how much the day it all went down. Mia says that he told her he loved her that day and really seemed to, just, mean it more than before. It was like he was finally serious about her. "

"So Dom wasn't always a jerk."

"No. You woulda had to know him to really get it I guess. But he wasn't always a jerk. He could act that way but he wasn't."

Unable to concur on the Dominic issue Gem turned on Leon's stereo. She was startled when Michael Jackson's 'The Way You Make Me Feel' started blasting. She started to laugh. "I thought Leon was your cool friend."

"He is. Was." Vince shook his head with a rueful smile. "I didn't say he had great taste in music though."

"I think this is a great song. I don't have to like Michael to appreciate his singing. I just don't jive this song with the image of a street smart, car racing ladies man."

"Leon liked all kinds of music. The next song will be something totally different than this, just wait." Sure enough the next song was some Sean Paul song with indecipherable lyrics and more beat than point.

"The stereo in this must practically rival the Maxima." Gem said, her voice raised to be heard over the pounding bass.

"Almost." Vince roared back with a smirk.

They gave the Skyline a run enthusiastic enough to blow the carbon out of the neglected engine and give Gem a few moments which left her heart in her throat and then they headed home and parked the car in the garage. They headed into the house to the aroma of something delicious cooking.

"I thought you two would never get home. I cooked pizza for supper." Mia said, smiling as she made her way from the living room to the kitchen to meet her friends at the back door.

"Mia, you spoil me far too much." Gem said as she hugged Mia and felt her gesture returned.

"No kiddin'." Vince added as he brushed past the girls to go down to his room to change.

When he walked into his room and past his mirror he realized with a start that he'd never put a shirt back on. He'd been out with Gem all day long in nothing but his shorts, hanging low around his hips and after the first few moments he'd never thought of his scars being on display from his shirtless state. After changing into jeans and a clean tank top he left his room whistling.

After dinner Vince announced he was taking the girls out to a movie. Gem agreed to go see the latest block buster with him enthusiastically but Mia again cried off, citing too much sun and not enough sleep the night before as her reasons to stay home. She claimed that as she had to work the next morning early she wanted to get to bed early. Since Monday was Gem's other day off she had no worries.

She was happy that if Vince was taking her to a movie he wasn't going out to a friend's house to get drunk. The more nights he didn't drink the happier she was. He still got drunk too often to suit her, and drove in that state half the time too, but progress was progress. After all, he'd said himself he hadn't planned on changing his ways at all. But yet he had, and all without anyone forcing him to. Sure, she'd pointed out how stupid it was, and how much it bothered her and Mia when he did it, but at the telling he'd said it was his life and he didn't plan on changing his ways. But he subtly was, and for the better. So if he was willing to pick popcorn and Pepsi over Corona and craziness then Gem was more than happy to accompany him.

Besides, she knew Mia wasn't going simply because she was at playing matchmaker again. Gem was getting it from all angles. Mia, Barbara. Even Vince himself, although he wanted to take it slow. How was a girl to hold onto her plan not to get involved with someone as broken inside as Vince when two of her best friends pushed her at him and him himself opened up to her and told her things he'd likely never told another living soul? She wasn't sure she even wanted to hold onto her plan anymore. She was fairly sure she had already given up on that plan in favour of the falling for Vince plan. She knew she should be worried. Worried and upset about it. But she wasn't. She was filled with a sense of anticipation for where it could go.

The sense of worry was there, nagging at the back of her mind, but it wasn't over anything Vince himself had done or could do. It was more over the trouble she knew Doug could and would make when he caught wind of Vince's past. And catch wind of it he would. Hell, he'd go looking for it. Gem had seen it in her brother's eyes when he'd sized Vince up on the lawn. He'd taken one look at her tattooed, scarred roommate and decided to go looking for dirt.

By Vince's own admission there was a lot of dirt to find. And when Doug found it the proverbial shit would hit the fan. He'd tell her dad before coming back to L.A. to confront the issue himself, her father in tow. And by then Nick was likely to be assigned to Nevada, unable to come to his sister's aid. Gem knew instinctively that Nick would be on her side. He supported her desire to do her own thing when no one else did. He was the one who convinced her to come to L.A. even when she'd convinced herself not to; that it wasn't worth hurting her mother and father over some silly child's fantasy of getting a record deal.

Nick was the one who supported her desire to further her musical career. Her parents and Doug alike tried to convince her that her place was working in the restaurant. Nick had some skeletons in his own closet as far as the law was concerned and she knew he'd be more understanding with the trouble that Vince had gotten himself into. After all, none of them knew what it was like to go through what Vince had.

It was true they'd always had a stable, two parent home. Parents who loved them and had spent time actively raising them, being there for them. They'd never known what it was like to be a sixteen year old with no parents, depending on a friend's parents for a place to stay and food to eat. They'd always had money for the necessities. Food, a place to live, clothes, good schools, these things had never been a worry for the Davis family. They always knew there was enough money for all the things they needed. So Doug had no right to judge someone like Vince, who'd grown up in a totally different way. How Vince had ended up wasn't something Doug could ever hope to understand. Gem had trouble herself and she only started to grasp the situation by putting herself into Vince's place.

She came back down the stairs dressed in jean shorts and a tank top. She found Mia and Vince waiting on her at the kitchen table. She joined them, bowed her head while Mia said grace, and started to eat with her friends. When they were done eating Gem and Vince both tried to convince Mia to go with them to the theatre one last time before giving up on her when she continued to say she didn't want to go.

Vince and Gem took off alone. After the movie, during which Vince actually pulled the old fake yawn and stretch move for an excuse to put his arm on the back of Gem's seat he insisted on taking her out for an ice cream. They walked along the boardwalk under the moon and stars as they ate and at some point without either being really sure how it came to be they ended up hand in hand. By the time they got back to the car Gem was almost asleep on her feet and Vince had his arm around her, half holding her upright and half holding her to his side.

They drove home and said good night at the base of the stairs.

When Gem woke up on Monday it was already eleven. She got up and got dressed and then headed down to see Mia at the café.

"Morning." Gem said with a yawn as she sat at the little counter.

"Hey. You just get up?"

"Yeah."

"When did you and V get in last night?"

"At one. I guess I was making up for the sleep I didn't get Saturday night."

"Yeah, must be. Where'd you go after the movie?"

"Out for ice cream. It was too nice of a night to head straight home. You should have come with us."

"Naw, three's a crowd." Mia winked playfully. "You here for lunch?"

"Aren't I always?" Gem asked, smiling.

"Why don't I pack it up to go and you can take some lunch to Vince and the boys down at the shop?"

"Mia," Gem cautioned. "What are you trying to do this time?"

"Nothing. I just worry about Vince and those boys eating nothing but that Fat Burger junk."

"Fine, pack me up some sandwiches and I'll take them down."

Mia made up all the boy's favourites and packaged them in tin foil before placing them all in a paper bag. She added a plastic bag of Coronas out of the fridge in back. "There you go." As an afterthought Mia added some sodas too, knowing Gem wouldn't drink the beer.

"Thanks. You sure you don't want me to eat here with you first?"

"I'm sure. I'll see you later. This is your day off after all. You should come by this afternoon and learn some of the stuff you're going to need to know to work here in fall."

"I guess I will need to start picking it up soon."

"Yeah, you will. But for now take the men their food."

Gem stood up from her stool. "Alright already. Sheesh, I know when I'm not wanted."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you tonight." Mia called after Gem with a grin.

"See you." Gem answered as she slid back into her hot little car. Another thing to add to the list of things on the car that didn't work was the air. It had finally given up the other day. It was another thing Vince swore wasn't worth fixing. He said by the time it was retrofitted to take the new R-134a refrigerant and recharged it would cost more than a newer car that wasn't so busted up. Gem rolled down both front windows and sped up, wanting to force more air to rush around the cabin of the little car. She really was going to have to replace her car.

It galled her to spend her money on a car. She could think of so many things she'd rather use her money on than a car. As long as she could get from one place to another in the Honda what did she need something fancier for? But it was an old debate and she knew that with her smog coming up to due she was going to either have to spend the money on fixing up her engine or just replacing the whole car. If Vince wasn't exaggerating how much work her car needed than it would just make more sense to replace the whole car.

She giggled as she realized half the reason why she didn't want to replace the Honda was because she didn't want to give Vince the satisfaction of being right about it. But he likely could find her something that worked better, that was more reliable and wasn't killing the atmosphere. Soon, she resolved. She'd give him permission to start looking for something else for her soon. She just wanted a few more pay checks under her belt to have a bit more saved up first.

She parked her car in the back of the garage and pushed into the dark interior via the back door. It let out directly onto the shop floor. She found all the guys in various states of undress, in various states of dirtiness, in various positions over and under cars.

"Lunch is here." She called as she walked out to the center of the floor.

Cory pushed out from under the car he was working on and stood up with a groan. He saw the bag of amber Coronas in her hand. "You're an angel. A genuine, certifiable Goddess." He said as he relieved her of her plastic bag burden and reached inside. He came out with a bottle of beer and with a moan of relish started rubbing the cold, sweating bottle over the back of his neck and his face before popping the top off and downing the first half in one go, the sweat on his face and bare chest glistening.

Bill sauntered up and took one of the cold beverages out of the bag for himself. He gave Cory a look to let the youth know it was evident he was showboating for Gem, and that the boss wouldn't like it one bit before he took the top off his own drink and took a swig, though nothing to rival the enthusiastic chugging of Cory a moment before.

"I have food too, or are you two only interested in the booze?" Gem asked in mild reproach as she took a chilled Pepsi out of the bag for herself and started unpacking the sandwiches.

"Are those Mia's sandwiches?" Cory asked. At Gem's affirmative nod he sighed dramatically. "The heat must have killed me. I've died and gone to heaven and you're the angel they sent to welcome me."

"Shut up'n eat fool." Bill said.

Gem didn't really know him but she knew he was older than Cory, someplace close to Vince's age, perhaps slightly older and kept to himself a lot. He drove a Nissan Sentra, totally unmodified, and didn't seem to go in for the whole street racing, car tuning scene. According to Vince, he was a good, steady, dependable worker who was more mechanic than tuner and that suited Vince just fine.

Gem unwrapped the first sandwich her hand closed over and found turkey. She handed it over to Bill without a word, knowing it was his favourite. She got a pleasant smile in return as the older man sat on the couch off to the side and started to eat, his beer between his feet on the floor. The next was ham and went off to the side for Vince, who still hadn't immerged from under the black s2000 he was working on. She found roast beef in the next one and handed it to Cory who fell on it with relish.

"I think I love you." Cory said through is mouth full of food as he savoured his sandwich.

"You think you love Mia. I'm just the messenger."

Cory swallowed his mouthful and washed it down with the rest of his first Corona. "Ok then, I think I love Mia."

Gem giggled. "I'll let her know."

"Where's mine?" A deep voice asked from over her shoulder. She jumped a bit before turning around with a hand to her throat.

"You scared the bejesus out of me V. It's on the table over there." Gem pointed to the bag. Vince collected his sandwich, the one clearly left over for Gem and two drinks, one Pepsi and one Corona before ushering Gem over to the end of the sofa opposite Bill and forcing her down to sit. He sat on the floor in front of her and unwrapped his own lunch. Gem followed suit.

"So what brings you down here?" Vince asked in between bites of his meal.

"Mia. She said you guys eat entirely too much fast food and she wanted you to have a good lunch for once."

"Always a worrier." Vince said with a grin and downed some of his beer. "But this beats a greasy hamburger ten to one."

"Then you should go eat with Mia more often."

"Yeah dude, and you should bring us back lunch while you're at it." Cory added as he polished off his second beer and sandwich and headed back over to the car he'd abandoned in favour of food on Gem's arrival.

"We'll see." Vince addressed Cory's comment before turning back to Gem. "So what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"

"Nothing really. Day off and all, I mostly figured I'd hang out around the house. I have to get my laundry done." Gem pulled a pinched face of distaste.

"Have fun with that." Vince said with a smirk, knowing how much she hated doing laundry. He suspected it had something to do with venturing into his domain but she also just hated the monotony of folding clothes, he knew. He did too, and that was why he lived out of three piles on the floor; the must be washed now, can be worn at least once more, and clean piles. Wasn't like he had much in the line of good clothes.

"I'm sure I will. If I don't contract plague, or get buried under a freak landslide of your stuff, never to be seen again." Gem teased back.

Bill chuckled and Vince looked mildly embarrassed. "Whatever."

"Yeah, whatever."

Gem watched as Vince polished off his food, then his drink and stood up. "Well, back to the grind. See you tonight?"

"Unless you have a hot date. I know where I'll be."

"I might have a hot date. It depends on what you're doing after supper." Vince looked mildly shocked to have phrased his statement the way he had.

"Nothing, if I have my washing done by then."

"We'll have to talk later then."

Gem stood up off the couch. In her flat flip flops Vince had almost a foot on her. She looked up at him. "Ok, see you later." She left with a little wave to the other two men and pushed open the back door. She heard Cory teasing Vince with kissy noises as she pushed out into the sweltering heat.

She had heard enough out of her brothers, mostly Nick, to know how men carried on when there were no females around to hear them. She wasn't envious of Vince in the least, knowing the teasing he was going to take simply because a friend who was a girl showed up with food she didn't even make herself for him. Imagine if she had cooked the meal herself, such as it was. Things would be even worse on poor Vince. Not to mention he'd as good as asked her out in front of them. He was in for one hell of an afternoon.

Gem drove home and got started on her washing. She darted quickly into the laundry room, avoiding seeing the rest of the floor. Like an ostrich with its head in the sand she hoped that if she couldn't see the horrendous mess it didn't really exist.

Despite the plans they'd tentatively made that afternoon at the garage they ended up staying in with Mia watching movies Monday night. Gem pinpointed the moment that Vince thought about heading down to the bar but he seemed to think better of it all on his own and talked Mia into making popcorn, claiming that for him the 'damn microwave was still broken', despite the fact Mia and Gem used the appliance almost daily. They all headed to bed around midnight, Gem only going because everyone else did. She sat up in her room with her notepad trying to work on the song she would have to have done for Thursday if she didn't want to play another cover song or repeat one of the songs she already wrote.

She kept coming back to the chorus she had but she had no idea how to fill in the verses.

When the phone rang at two am Gem got up to answer it quickly, hoping not to wake the rest of the house. "Hello?"

"Gem?" A naggingly familiar voice asked.

It took Gem a second to realize it was her friend Cindy from home. "Cin, that you?"

"Yeah. Gem, I need to talk to someone, can we meet up?"

"Of course. But I'm a piece away from 'Frisco Cin." She didn't point out it was also the dead of night on a work night.

"I know. I'm in Los Angeles. I came down when I found out from Nick where you were. Can you meet me tonight? I know it's late but I really need to talk to someone."

Sensing the desperation in her friend's voice she answered of course and picked a place for them to meet, a coffee shop about half way between their positions that was also open all night. Gem could sense from her friend's voice that everything wasn't ok. She rushed out of her bed to pull on pants and a sweater over her PJs that consisted of gym shorts and a tank top.

Vince met her at the bottom of the stairs. "What's wrong?" He asked, worried.

"The phone call was from my best friend from back home. She sounded really upset and she came all the way from home to find me. She needs to see me so I'm going to go meet her."

"Do you need me to come with you?" Vince asked. "It's awful late for you to be out in the city alone."

"I'd normally be coming home from work at this hour and the coffee shop I'm meeting her in is in a well lit spot not too far from here. She sounded really upset so I don't think I should show up with strangers in tow. I'll be careful."

"Ok, but I want you to take my car." Vince saw Gem go to protest. "No buts. I don't want to think of you broke down on the side of the road at this hour. Just take the car.'

"Ok, thanks." Gem took his keys, actually grateful for his offer, and for his concern. She kicked on her sandals and headed out to the blue Nissan, starting it and backing it out of the driveway. Her skills with the manual transmission had improved a great deal over the times she'd driven Vince home.

She pulled up to the brightly lit establishment about twenty minutes later and cut the engine after she parked. She headed up the steps into the building and found Cindy huddled in a back booth, a steaming cup of black coffee in front of her.

Her black hair was scraped back into a messy bun on the back of her head and there were black circles under her eyes to match. She'd lost weight since Gem had seen her last, more weight than she could technically have afforded to loose, Gem thought. Her friend looked far too thin and pale. Gem rushed up to her table.

"Cindy, what's wrong? Why'd you run off to L.A. out of the blue like this? Does your mother know where you are?"

"Oh god, Gem!" Cindy stood up as she wailed her friend's name and launched herself into Gem's arms. She started to cry, sobbing against Gem's sweater.

"Shush, it's ok." Gem comforted.

"I'm so sorry I called you this late but Nick said you kept late nights now and you'd still be up."

"I was, it's fine. What's the matter?" Gem held her friend at arms length and looked at her.

"I don't know where to start." Cindy admitted as she sat back down. Gem sat down with her, sliding into the same side of the booth and putting a comforting arm around her friend's shoulders.

"Start at the beginning. What made you this upset?"

"You know I was dating Bobby Webb right?"

"Yes, of course. You seemed so happy about it."

"I was. Until I found out just what kind of guy Bobby really was."

"What do you mean?" Gem asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"It wasn't so long after I started going with him that he started calling me names. He was only verbally abusive for the first while. I just sorta got use to it I guess. Started to think what he was telling me was true. I learned to tune it out but at the same time it started to get to me. I think I started to believe him."

"Why didn't you leave him?"

"Because I started to think he was right. That I was worthless. Since he was right that meant he was the only guy that would have me. If I left him I would have been all alone. But then, it was like calling me down wasn't enough. He started smacking me around a little. Just a little at first. Never enough to leave a mark or a bruise. But lately he's gotten even worse."

"So leave him Cin. You've only been with him what, eight months. Just leave him."

"I was going to. I mean, I did. But then he found me and when he did he beat me around again but he didn't stop there."

"What do you mean by that?" Gem asked. She was glad she was able to keep her cool and not get mad. She didn't want to upset her friend further.

"He said he'd teach me to leave him and he," Cindy broke down into sobs again. Gem rubbed her back and made calming noises, trying to help her friend keep it together under the harsh florescent lighting of the diner. She resumed her story. "Well, he forced himself on me."

Gem gasped in shock. "Did you call the police?"

"No."

"Why not?" Gem asked, in disbelief.

"Because he told me he'd make my life even worse if I did. That was about a month ago now. He left me alone after that, told me he didn't really want me anyway."

"Well, he's the fool not you. You should have called the police anyway. You should have told Nicky everything and had him take you to the police."

"I couldn't tell Nick what that bastard did to me. And Gem, it gets worse."

"What else is wrong?" Gem asked, still reeling in shock from what her friend had been through.

"The last time, the time he raped me, I got pregnant." Cindy started to cry in earnest again, having been able to find her control in spurts. "I'm going to have the bastard's baby. I'm glad I'm not with him anymore and I don't want to be a mother. I'm not ready, I'm too young and I don't want something tying me to that asshole for the rest of my life. What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know." Gem answered honestly. She was totally thrown for a loop. She had never dreamed she'd be in the position of knowing her best friend had been raped and was now pregnant by her rapist. "Did you talk to anyone?"

"Just you."

"Cindy, you need to see a professional. I'm not qualified to help you with this. I've never been through anything like this and I don't know what to tell you, what you're going through."

"I know, and I will see someone Gem I swear to god. But for right now I want you to do something for me."

"Of course, what it is?"

"I'm going tomorrow morning to get an abortion while it's still early. It gets harder to do the farther along you let yourself get and I don't want this baby. I don't want to be a mother and I don't want to bring a baby into the world that was only conceived out of violence. I don't want a constant reminder of Bobby and what he did and I don't want anything in my life that ties him to me for as long as us having a kid together would."

"Are you sure it's what you want?" Gem asked. "It's something that once you do it you can't go back again."

"I'm sure. Will you come with me Gem? I can't go alone and I want it done here in L.A. so no one from home ever knows."

"Of course I'll go with you Cin. If you're sure it's what's best for you than I'll go with you. But you have to promise me that you're going to go to a councillor when you get home and talk to someone that can help you put this all behind you in a healthy way. Promise me."

"I promise."

"Good girl. Ok, where's your coat?"

"I didn't bring one. I didn't think. I just hopped on a bus after I talked to your brother and came to find you."

"You don't even have a car?"

"No. I sold my car so Bobby could have the money to get a better truck. I'm so stupid."

"No you're not Cin. Come on, I'm taking you home with me."

"I can't stay with you. You have roommates. What will they think?"

"Nothing. Mia's great and Vince'll be asleep downstairs by the time we get back. Come on. You can get a good night's sleep in my room and we'll go tomorrow. Did you find the clinic yet?"

"Yeah. I have an appointment at eleven."

"Ok. Let's go home." Gem helped Cindy out of the booth and the two crossed to Vince's car, arms around each other.

"Whose car? Nick told me you were still driving the Honda."

"I am. This is Vince's. He insisted I take something more reliable than the Honda if I was going out into the dead of night."

"I'm sorry I woke him."

"Don't be. He keeps a lot of late nights himself. The people I live with are nice, very nice, but they have their own quirks. You might have woke him but then again he was likely still up. He might be still up when we get home but he's pretty nice so don't worry about it."

"Ok."

When the girls pushed through the front door they did in fact find Vince watching some late night rerun in the living room. He got up when Gem came in the front door. He scratched his chest as he walked her way, stopping self consciously when he saw Gem wasn't alone. "Everything ok?" He asked softly.

"Yes, thank you for letting me use your car. Cindy," Gem turned to her friend. "This is Vince. Vince, Cindy. Cindy is a friend of mine from 'Frisco. We've known each other since we were little kids."

"Hey." Cindy said and sniffled.

"Hi. You sure everything is ok with you two?" Vince asked, knowing if Gem was in trouble, even if it was through one of her friends that she obviously cared about he'd be down to help her out, no matter what the cost to himself. He wondered if it was a good thing he felt the same loyalty to Gem that he had to Dominic. Look where _that_ had gotten him.

"It's fine. We're going to go to bed now though." Gem said as she started to push Cindy up the stairs.

"Do you want to use one of the extra rooms down stairs?" Vince asked, knowing the extra bed upstairs was covered in musical paraphernalia.

"No, we'll share mine. It'll be just like old times." Gem said with a smile. "Night V."

"Night Gem. Cindy." Vince added Gem's friend to his good night self consciously. He was glad the dim light kept the details of his face and body from being too sharp. He wasn't sure if he was ready for strangers like Cindy to see him in his shorts.

The girls headed up the stairs together and Vince went back to bed, finally able to sleep now that Gem was home safe.

In the morning Gem woke to the ringing of her alarm at nine am and woke up Cindy. She lent her friend some of her new clothes, even the smaller size things she wore now being almost too big for her very thin friend. Cindy needed to get help to get over the issues she was bound to have and Gem decided, confidence or no, she was going to give Doug the gist of the matter and have him make sure Cindy got the help she needed.

Gem put Cindy in the shower first. It was obvious her friend was very nervous, not that Gem could blame her. She couldn't imagine any of what Cindy was going through. How did her friend decide to end the life growing inside her? Even knowing it wasn't likely something she could do, no matter how the child was conceived, Gem respected Cindy's right to chose her own way. Maybe it was better for everyone if the pregnancy never made it full term. Cindy was right, no matter what kind of asshole her ex was the law would say he had a right to be involved with his child. Especially since Cindy hadn't reported his abuse of her or the rape itself.

When Cindy was out of the shower and getting dressed in Gem's room she jumped in the shower herself and proceeded to get ready for the day. When she left the bathroom Cindy was sitting quietly on the edge of Gem's bed.

"You ready?" Gem asked.

"As I'll ever be." Cindy answered.

"You still sure this is what you want to do?"

"I think it's for the best."

"Ok, let's go then. I don't know that part of town very well and the traffic might be bad. Are you sure this is a reputable place?"

"Yeah, I checked into a few and this one was the best one I looked into."

They got into Gem's car, both Vince and Mia already being at work and headed toward downtown. They made small talk on the way to the clinic, neither of them wanting to talk about the ordeal Cindy was about to go through. Gem wasn't sure if she could ever do what Cindy was about to do and it rendered her unable to talk to her friend about it, unsure of what was ok to say. Cindy didn't seem to want to talk about it or think about it anyway so Gem let it go.

They parked the sad little grey car in the lot of the clinic Cindy had chosen and entered through the sliding glass doors in front of the building. They walked into a waiting room done in shades of calming green. Many of the chairs were occupied by women. Many of them were not obviously pregnant, just like Cindy wasn't showing any signs on the outside of her condition. Some were showing small bumps under their shirts. Gem really didn't know how those women were standing to do what they were planning on. She could see only one reason for an obviously pregnant woman to be in an abortion clinic.

Cindy gave her name to the duty nurse and the two girls took a seat until it would be her turn to be called into a consultation room. As they both picked up magazines and started to flip through them Gem became conscious of one thing.

Many of the other women were glaring at them. She was sure she was only noticing it because she wasn't as emotionally destroyed as Cindy but it still galled her. How dare they?

They were there for the same reason as her friend. But yet they were judging her on looks only as not having as valid a reason to be there, ready to end the life of her baby same as they all were. They didn't know Cindy, didn't know what had driven her to the point she was at in her life.

As the time wore on one by one the women who'd been in the clinic earlier got called into the back section by a kindly looking nurse. By Gem's estimate Cindy would be next to be called. She was right.

"Cindy Murphy?" The nurse called.

"That's you." Gem said. She saw the look of uncertainty flash across her friend's face. "You sure you want to do this? You can still change your mind. You have more time to think about it. It's still early."

"I'm sure. I just don't want to face it alone. I'm scared."

"You're not alone. I'm here."

Cindy walked up to the nurse and after a few seconds of hushed conversation Cindy motioned Gem over. "She says you can stay with me until they start the procedure. Will you?"

"Of course." Gem answered with more confidence than she felt and followed the nurse and her friend into a small consultation room. She looked around. She was so nervous just being in the room she almost was sick. She got control of herself solely for Cindy's benefit and held onto her friend's hand.

"I'm scared." Cindy admitted again, in a small little child's voice.

"It's ok to be scared. This is a big decision. But if you're sure it's what's best for you and for the baby than I'll support you."

"I can't be tied to Bobby for the rest of my life and I can't know that my child is being raised by strangers. This is how it has to be."

"Sounds like you're pretty sure about it, just scared of the action itself then."

"Yeah."

"Well, I want you to remember your promise to me about getting counselling when you get home. This isn't something you can just walk away from and pretend never happened. You're going to be upset about doing it, no matter how necessary you think it is and it's going to be worse for you since you already have low self esteem from what Bobby was doing to you. But if you tell the people who love you what you went through and let us we'll take care of you. But you still need professional help."

"Your friend is very wise." The female doctor said as she walked into the room. "I recommend everyone who undergoes this procedure talk to someone, even if it's only one or two times. Just to make sure you have a handle on how it makes you feel and the emotions you're going to be coping with afterward."

"Gem made me promise her I would get help last night when I practically showed up on her doorstep."

"Do I understand correctly that this pregnancy is the result of a rape? Because that's very rare."

"My boyfriend, ex now, forced me to have sex with him after we broke up and that's when I got pregnant."

"Ok. I have a few questions for you. How far along are you to the best of your knowledge?"

"Five weeks."

"Do you have any children?"

"No."

"Do you want to talk to a councillor before we do the procedure?"

"No."

"Ok, you sound confident you know what you're doing. Just remember you can't take this back. Once we start the procedure it's permanent. In rare cases there can be problems conceiving a planned child later in life."

"I know."

"Right, then the only thing we still have to talk about is how you wish to proceed. You can go the drug route, which will cause your body to basically have a chemically induced miscarriage. At this stage of your pregnancy it will be like a very heavy period. It will hurt with bad cramps and will be messy. It takes about a week for the whole thing to be over using the drug method and will require two visits."

"I wanted to head for home later today."

"Ok, well your other choice would be over with an hour or so after we prepped you for surgery. You'd be woozy for the rest of the afternoon but you would be back to normal physically by this evening. This second method involves dilating you and using a suction device to remove the lining of your uterus. You might have some spotting for a few days afterward and I highly suggest you take birth control for at least six months after to ensure you don't get pregnant again for at least that long to give your body time to heal."

"That sounds like the way I'd like to go. I just want this over and done with."

"We'll get you ready then. Your friend can stay in this room until we take you back after the surgery. Please change into this gown." The doctor left the paper hospital gown for Cindy and left the room. Cindy changed out of her clothes into the backless dress and got back up on the table.

"Thanks for staying with me Gem."

"Of course I'm staying with you. I'm your friend."

"You're a better friend than I deserve." Guilt about what she was going to do started to kick in. Cindy still didn't change her mind, but that didn't mean she didn't feel bad about the whole situation.

"Shush. That's not true." Gem held her friend while she cried and by the time the doctor came back Cindy had herself back under control.

They wheeled Cindy away and Gem sat in her chair and worried. She tried to read one of the magazines in the room but nothing could hold her attention. She knew that wouldn't change until Cindy was safely returned to the room to wake up. Cindy was her best friend and she thought it was more important to be available to her and supportive but Gem was also having a very hard time grappling with the moral issues surrounding what her friend was doing. After all the baby hadn't asked to be conceived but now it wasn't ever going to get a chance to be born. Perhaps that was better than being raised by a single mother, unable to know it's father. But perhaps it would be better yet for Cindy to tell herself she gave her baby the gift of love and put it into a home that would love it despite how it was conceived. When it all boiled down to it Gem knew it wasn't her decision to make and all she could do was hope and pray she never found herself in the position of making the choice Cindy had had to make. About an hour later Cindy was returned, still under heavy sedation.

Gem stayed with her and talked to her while she came back around. When she was fully conscious, but feeling dizzy and sick they discharged her with instructions for how to take care of herself for the next few weeks, a prescription for birth control pills, and the name of a good psychologist back in San Francisco. They spent the rest of the day vegging out at Gem's house before Cindy insisted on catching a bus back to her home that night. Gem drove her to the bus stop under protest, trying to convince her she should stay another night to recover. Cindy was having none of it. She wanted to get back to her life and routine as soon as possible. She committed to calling the psychologist she'd been referred to the next morning and then she was gone with a tight hug and a few more tears.

Gem went home to find she still had the house to herself. She went up to her room and picked up her pen and pad. There was only one way for her to cope with what she'd just been through and that was to put it down as a song. She didn't know how she'd ever gotten through her emotional traumas without song writing to see her through. She put pen to paper and started to write, her song so long struggled with finally starting to flow. After the first verse and the chorus were down on paper and finished Gem rolled over on her bed and lost it, breaking down into tears. She had her self under control a few minutes later, but when she let herself go she really flipped out. She felt better when she was done.

Mia came home at the normal time but Vince didn't make it home for supper. He was out the door so fast when he did get home it almost gave Gem whiplash. She was use to him taking the time to eat with them before he took off. She wondered if he was on the way to the Cobalt. His face had been a study in black storm clouds.

"What was with him?" She finally got up the nerve to ask Mia after Vince's departure.

"I should have warned you earlier I guess but tomorrow is the year anniversary of when we lost Jesse. Vince has to be taking it hard. I imagine with all the other stuff that's been going on around here lately he forgot. But now that it's tomorrow he no doubt saw the Jetta at the shop, put two and two together back to the day he was hurt and realized that Jesse has been dead for a year. Not to mention that tomorrow is the day my brother and friends took off for parts unknown."

"Oh Mia, I'm sorry. I wish I had known." It hit Gem like a ton of bricks on top of the day she had already lived through to find out that tomorrow was the anniversary of the death of 'The Mad Scientist'. Vince would be taking it hard, his guilt over being hurt himself and unable to help his young friend not something he'd ever gotten over.

"You didn't know. That's fine. I'm sad but it's easier to remember the good times with Jesse now than it has been. I'm gonna be ok. I worry about V though."

"Me too. He's still carrying so much guilt over the whole thing and I know he's been moving past it now but it's going to just drop him right back to where he was if he falls into a funk over this. I might have to try to talk to him about it." Gem blew out a breath. She knew about how well that was going to go.

"Good luck." Mia answered with a frown. She too knew how well it would go. Not terribly.

"Thanks." Gem got changed for work and headed out after popping two Tylenol to try and deal with her splitting headache. She hated to cry. She always ended up with a headache when she was done. But she felt better to have gotten her feelings over the whole situation with Cindy and with Jesse out of her system. At least for now.

She drove to work and was immediately accosted by Barbara and Barry at the door.

"What is it guys?" She asked tiredly as she walked into the back room, Barbara and Barry on her heels.

"What drove him to drink this time? He's been sucking back beer since he got here about forty five minutes ago."

"I don't know Barry. He had a bad day? Do I look like his mother?" Gem said. "I'm sorry for snapping," She sighed. "I had a really bad day myself. A friend from home came to visit because she was having a bad personal problem she wanted my help with."

"Is she ok?" Barbara asked as she hugged Gem.

"No, but she will be. I think she will be."

"You sure you want to work tonight? You can go home if you want." Barry offered.

"No, I'll stay and work. I think it would be best if I kept an eye on Vince."

"Ok, but take it easy."

"I will."

Gem headed out onto the floor of the bar and started waiting on people. It was like they designed things so she wouldn't have to deal with Vince for the first half of her evening. When her break came she decided to go sit with him for awhile and see how he took it. She hauled one of the empty chairs out from under his table and sat wearily.

"Hey V."

"Mmm." He grunted.

She decided to feign ignorance of the significance of the dates. "Bad day at work?"

"You might say that." Vince finally looked at Gem, his eyes blurry and red rimmed. "What happened to you? You look like you got run over by an eighteen wheeler."

"That's about how I feel too, to be honest. My girlfriend Cindy from last night?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, she's going through a really hard time right now." Gem chickened out from telling Vince just what while he was drunk and angry. She didn't know how he'd react. "Anyway she needed my support to get through something really hard for her today and it was hard for me too. Called a lot of my beliefs into question and made me think on some things I don't really like thinking about." Gem shook her head. "But enough about that depressing topic. What happened to you?"

"Nothin'. Same shit different day." Vince upended his current beer over his mouth and chugged the rest of it.

Gem looked at him. There would be no talking to him, no reasoning with him after just a few more drinks. "Ok V, if that's how you want to play it." He gave her a look, angry she knew he was hiding something when he'd thought he did such a good job of hiding it. "But make me a promise."

"Wha?" He snarled.

"Get as drunk as you want, but wait for me tonight. I don't want you driving home. We'll take your car together. Ok?"

"Sure. Whatever."

"Ok. See you later." Gem got up with a sigh for how weary she felt and went back to work. It was a busy night, something none of them were use to on Tuesday and by the end of the night Gem was so tired and mentally exhausted she wanted to pass out in the back seat of her car and just forget about going home. But then she remembered she'd made Vince promise to let her drive him home. And boy did he ever need a designated driver tonight. Gem had watched as he'd slowly gotten himself obliviously loaded in his corner. It hadn't helped either of their mentalities that the band had been some angst filled cover of the latest teen punk superstars. All the songs had been heavy on both beat and teen style angst.

Gem collected her coat and purse from the back room, said good night to Barry and Barbara and headed out to find Vince. When she found her car alone with Barry's truck she growled. "So much for your promises I guess." She slammed into the Honda with jerky, irate motions.

After the hellish day, and night, she'd had now she had to drive the whole way home wondering if she was going to find Vince's car in a ditch, or smashed into the median or into the front, side or rear of another car. _If he's not dead I'll kill him_, she snarled in her head.

When she arrived home the shortest time later she'd dared to push the Civic for she found Mia's car home alone in the driveway. She stormed into the house to find Mia still awake, sipping tea at the kitchen table.

"Where the hell is he?" Gem asked, the next thing to yelling at Mia. "And don't cover for him either."

"What are you talking about Gem?"

"Where the hell is Vince?"

"I thought he was with you." Mia stood up, a hand to her throat. "I hoped he was. He never came home. I thought he'd have the good sense to let you drive him home tonight. I knew he was out to get sloshed when he left the house tonight with that look on his face."

"He was supposed to let me drive him home but he took off on his own in his own car when I was getting my stuff out of the back room. You mean he never came home?"

"No."

"I didn't see his car ditched anywhere on the way home and I didn't pass any accidents either, so either he took another way home or he just didn't come home."

"Where else would he go?"

"I don't know but I'm going to go check out Cory's and the garage. I don't know where else he'd go."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Mia asked.

"No, I think I'll do better on my own with him if I find him." Gem headed for the front door. She slapped her forehead with her hand. "I'm such an idiot." She exclaimed.

"Why?" Mia asked as she followed Gem through the house.

"Because I know where he is."

"Where, did he tell you?"

"No but when you really think about it it's obvious. He's at Jesse's grave. It's technically tomorrow now, the day Jesse died."

"I guess that's a good guess of where he might be." Mia admitted. "So what now?"

"Now I want you to drive me there so you can leave me with him. I don't want him to have an excuse to drive himself any farther tonight."

"Good plan."

Mia got her car keys and she and Gem headed out to the Acura. Mia turned the car toward the cemetery they'd buried Jesse in. Both girls were quiet for the trip, each with her own private worries. If they didn't find Vince at the cemetery than neither of them would have any idea where to find him.

Gem was also worrying about Cindy. She'd tried calling her house at break time but no one had answered. Gem knew she'd been pushing it time wise as far as how long the trip from L.A. to San Francisco took anyway but she was still worried about her traumatised friend.

As they pulled up to the cemetery and started down the main road Gem felt a shiver go up and down her spine. It was creepy to be in a grave yard at night.

"You sure you want to do this Gem?"

"Yeah. He promised me he'd wait and he lied. Plus we can't let him drive anywhere else tonight."

"I just worry about how he might be even to you in the state he's bound to be in Gem."

"I know he can be violent but he won't be that way with me. There are a few things I can talk to him about after tonight anyway Mia and it'll be fine. You'll see."

Mia's headlights sliced through the gloom of the cloudy night and illuminated the Maxima. It was sloppily parked off the side of the road on a drunken angle. The driver's side door wasn't closed all the way.

"Jesse is buried down this isle about half way." Mia pointed. "You can't see it from here, which is likely a good thing because if Vince sees you coming before I leave he'll send you packing." Mia was worried for what was in store for Gem when she found Vince and Mia worried it wouldn't be pretty.

"Thanks Mia. I'll see you in the morning."

"Gem?" Mia called nervously.

"Yes Mi?"

"I want you to promise me that if it comes to it and he scares you or acts like he'd get violent in any way you'll take off running and steal the car. He keeps a spare key in a magnet box under the drivers side floor pan on the outside."

"Ok Mia, if it comes to that I will take off with the car ok?"

"Ok. I just," Mia trailed off, and blew some baby bangs off her forehead. "I worry about him but sometimes I worry about you too."

"I appreciate it Mia, but I'll be ok. I promise. And when I promise it actually means something." Gem said, her ire at Vince rising again when she thought of his broken promise to her.

"Ok, just go a little easy on him. It's a hard time for him."

"I know Mia. We'll both make it out alive. Don't worry so much."

"Ok, night." Mia closed her window and backed her car around, spinning it around to drive back out the way she'd come. Gem carefully retrieved the spare for the Maxima, knowing if it came down to it she'd be smarter to have the key on her already than to be fishing for it if she needed it. She hoped it wouldn't come to that. She knew Vince was volatile, but she had a feeling that when it came to her and Mia, he wasn't really dangerous.

She stood up with the key in her fist and started down the row of headstones Mia had indicated. About half way down the isle, over a small rise which hid the area from the road, she found Vince sitting on the ground at the foot of one of the graves. Only the mostly full moon let her see where she was going, even though it only peaked out occasionally from behind the clouds. There was no other source of illumination around.

The atmosphere wasn't creepy as Gem had expected, but rather tranquil. There was a gentle breeze, it had the briny tang of ocean air on it as well, leading Gem to believe they weren't that far from the shore. The grass and head stones were carefully tended. She paused a piece away from Vince's position and just took some time to gauge his mood before continuing to his side. When he started to speak she couldn't move, but rather stood fixed to her spot and listened, a hand to her mouth to hide her pain at his words.

"I'm just so fuckin' sorry I wasn't there for you kid. I shoulda never let you outta my sight at race wars. I knew you had big plans and I knew they were stupid. And Leon, always so easy goin'. Shoulda know he'd let you do whatever the fuck you wanted no matter how stupid it was. I shoulda stayed with the two'a you instead of goin' with Dom to check out those two blondes. I coulda kept you outta trouble if I'd just stuck around. I knew from how you were always tryin' to watch my back in fights you thought you were bigger than you damn well are. Well, were.

"And I sure as fuck shoulda taken off after you when you bailed instead of just hangin' around and hopin' you came back. Shouldn'ta put more importance on the fuckin' truck than on findin' you. And now I can't never take it back cause you're dead." Vince lifted the flask in his hand that Gem hadn't even realized he had to his lips and took a big swallow. He coughed as he wiped his hand across his mouth, unaccustomed to the hard liquor he was swilling down like water now.

"And you know what kid?" It was clearly a rhetorical question. "I should be too. I'm the one with the fucked up past, the volatile temper, and the one who got us into that mess. But you're the one who died.

"Of course since it was fuckin' Tran who killed you and we all know whose fault the thing with Tran was maybe I'm blamin' the wrong guy. I can tell that Mia and Gem both think I should hate Dom for what he did. For getting us involved in a feud with Tran, for agreeing the trucks were a good idea and for bailing on us when it went to shit but I just can't. Mia seems to and he's her own fuckin' brother but I can't. What about all the good things he did? Like givin you and Leon a place to stay when you had no where and a job for some money. A place on our team. Gem doesn't even seem to realize that he'd do the same for her if she had showed up with no where. I know it looks bad from where she's standing but I just can't explain to her why I can't let Dom go.

"She's been after me in her own way to lose their cars and clean up you'n Leon's rooms and get rid of all you guys's shit but I can't do it. I think she might be right about the whole thing too but I just can't take responsibility for it. Someone like Mia'll have to tell me it's ok to let it go because from where I sit it sure as fuck ain't ok. But that's me, coyote the fuckin' follower. And ok, Dom shouldn't have run, and Leon and Letty shouldn'ta been so quick to bail with him, but if I let go of their cars and all their stuff it'll be almost like they never even existed. And they fuckin' well did. We were a fuckin' team but it meant shit all to them, with how fuckin' fast they bailed.

"God damn it for all they knew they were leavin' me'n you'n Mia to take the goddamn fall for what they did. They don't even know for sure that you died. When Dominic took off you were still alive on the sidewalk. I know it was just barely but you weren't dead. You know, I think Gem's right. Dom's off someplace with Letty and Leon and they're all pretending life back in Cali is fuckin' fine. But here I am dealin' with all this shit. I should hate him. So why don't I kid?

"I just don't know what to do Jesse. So much of me wants to just let it go. I could have a new life with the girls. A normal life. I'm just not sure if I want it more than I miss the old one."

Vince finished off whatever he'd had in his flask and hung his head down between his bent knees. As Gem watched the moonlight reflect off the hair on his bent head she realized his shoulders were shaking. She knew he was crying and momentarily thought about simply walking back to his car and sitting on it to wait for him like he'd waited for her so many times. She knew he'd want his privacy. But she couldn't leave him alone in his dejection. She knew, after this afternoon waiting for her friend to end the life of her unborn child, what despair was. So rather than play it safe and go wait for him by the Maxima she finished her trip to his side and stood behind him on the grass.

With a brief hesitation she reached down and touched his shoulder. "V?"

He looked up at her with a snarl. "What the fuck are you doin' here?"

"You scared me, taking off the way you were when you said you'd wait. I couldn't sleep until I knew you were safe."

"How'd you find me?" He asked, looking away, still irate at having unwanted company. He didn't want anyone, let alone Gem to see him like this.

"I figured out where you'd go. Mia told me earlier what today was and I guess I knew something like this was coming." She dropped beside him on the grass. It was wet and she shivered as the tiny drops of moisture soaked into her pants. She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked out over the rows of headstones with her chin resting on her bent knees.

"You saw I'm fine so you can just go the fuck home."

"No I can't."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because Mia left me here and you sure as hell are not fine. I won't let you drive home V. If you want to be alone here so bad than I'll leave you here and go wait in the car for you but I won't let you drive home."

"Why do you insist on treating me like I can't make up my own mind what I wanna do?"

"Because you insist on doing stupid things that could get you killed and I won't have it." She turned her head to look at Vince, resting her cheek on her knees instead of her chin. "You know you don't have to feel guilty for what happened to Jesse V."

"I didn't stop it."

"You didn't make him do it either. Not to mention where was the great Dom who was supposed to run his team? Did he ok Jesse's race against Tran that day?"

"No. No one did. Just Leon who wouldn't have said no if Jesse wanted to jump off a diving board into an empty pool."

"You can't keep taking every bad thing that happens to anyone you know onto your own shoulders Vince. It's not all your fault."

"It's too bad it's not your absolution to give." Vince growled. "I wasn't there for Mia when she needed me most and I wasn't there for Jesse."

"You couldn't help what happened to you taking you out of commission for so long. You didn't leave Mia alone on purpose. You can be there for Mia now. You can be there for Cory and Bill. You're still here V, you're still alive. You can't go on living your life like you wish you were dead."

"Sometimes I do." Vince admitted and like it was the end of his strength he broke down into great racking sobs. "The kid didn't do anything wrong but he's dead. I did lots wrong but here I sit. It should be me here in the cold ground alone. Not Jesse."

Gem could hardly stand to see him cry. He wasn't the crying type and she knew it. She put an arm around his shoulders comfortingly and he tried to shrug her off. She knew he was upset and embarrassed she was there to see his loss of control. She refused to let go of him. She was as determined to be there for him as she had been for Cindy. "It's ok to be upset V and its ok to cry."

"This from the girl who never cries." Vince said around his tears. "Kinda hypocritical."

"I spent most of this afternoon bawling my eyes out in my room as a matter of fact."

"Why?"

Gem relayed the story of her friend Cindy in graphic detail after swearing Vince to secrecy. It wasn't likely he'd remember much of it tomorrow anyway, Gem told herself.

At the end of her story he pulled her into his lap and continued to cry into her hair at the foot of Jesse's grave. After wrapping her arms around him she let go of her own tears and cried onto his shoulder, for Cindy, Jesse, Mia, Vince and herself.

She hoped, now that it was all out it would be cleansing, life could go on. Life had to. It only went one way. There were no do overs, was no rewind button. All you could do was keep on breathing and hope to see the light.

Slowly, over the course of half an hour both their breathing returned to normal and with a last hiccup Vince regained his composure. He stood up, Gem still in his arms and thanked god he was again strong enough to carry her because he wasn't ready to let her go just yet. She, despite her unwelcome presence had been like a beacon of light in the middle of his bleak, suicidal thoughts. He set her down beside the driver's door, knowing without hearing the lecture there was no way she was letting him drive.

Not that he would want to, not if she was in the car. Her life was too important to take stupid risks with. She fished the spare copy of the key out of her pocket and opened the door. Vince actually managed to chuckle. "You found that did you?"

"Mia told me to get it in case you turned into a crazy person and chased me to the car. She told me to leave you here to sober up and run away." Gem slid into the car and let Vince in before starting it.

Thinking of how close he was to totally out of his mind Vince couldn't even find it in himself to be mad at Mia for thinking so poorly of him. In the state she'd found him, who knew what he would have been capable of. There was just something about Gem that changed him, calmed him down. She was his engine in Jesse terms. They pulled up to the house and went in. Mia, Vince was glad to note, had gone to bed.

"Gem?" He started tentatively, knowing he was still drunk as he'd ever been before and still been able to remain conscious. He couldn't walk a straight line to save his soul and he seriously wondered just how slurred his words were.

"Yeah?" She asked as she kicked off her shoes.

"Stay with me tonight. Just so I'm not alone."

With a look at Vince she agreed. She ran upstairs first to change into her PJ's and on a whim grabbed her notepad and pen in case she couldn't sleep before heading downstairs. She noticed something this trip she hadn't when she'd snuck into the laundry room two days before.

The basement was clean.

Spotlessly so. The floors had all been picked up and vacuumed. Quick glances into the open doors of Leon and Jesse's room showed them neat and organized, beds made and floors devoid of the stuff that had been left strewn around from Leon's hasty departure. Gem snuck into Leon's old room and found the boxes of Dom and Letty's things had been joined by boxes of Leon's personal effects in the closet. Other than that the room might have been any guest room in anyone's house.

When Gem finally got into Vince's room to find it in slightly more lived in but yet still neat and tidy condition she didn't know what had occurred to bring on the change. It was a huge difference. Vince was already in his bed under the blankets. Figuring he was asleep already Gem fought with herself, wondering if she should stay anyway or leave him to sleep it off on his own. She decided that as she'd committed to not leaving him alone she should keep her promise.

Lifting the other side of the blankets she slid into the bed and was surprised to find the sheets smelled like sunny days. Just like the laundry had been washed and hung out on the line to dry.

"Figured you'd changed your mind." Vince mumbled into his pillow.

"I took a minute to look around the place. I wasn't sure I was in the right basement."

"I thought about what you said the other day and figured it was time to put their stuff away and put it behind me. I just didn't figure on the anniversary of Jesse dying hittin' me so hard."

"I'm glad you packed up the stuff V, and things will look better tomorrow. Well, after your head stops spinning."

"Don't remind me."

"Ok, I won't. Get some sleep V."

"You too."

"I will." Gem lied prettily and waited until she heard Vince's breathing even out in the steady timbre of sleep. Then she turned on the light and began to write.

By the time she was done she realized it was five am. With a groan she turned out the lamp and rolled over to face Vince, who was asleep with his back to her, curled up on his side. She, with a desire she couldn't control, slid closer to him and draped and arm over his waist. She fell quickly asleep, exhausted beyond her limits from her trying day and the emotional storm reliving it all to write a song about it had been.

When Vince woke up the next day he again felt like some unsympathetic person was using an air chisel inside his head. When he realized he was laying on his back with Gem half on top of him the night all came rushing back. An ill advised glance at his clock showed the time to be almost twelve.

Gem looked like death warmed over and he imagined he could make the same claim about himself. With a groan he decided he wasn't ready to be conscious yet and rolled over onto his side facing Gem, tucking her head under his chin and falling back to sleep.

When he woke up again it was two hours later and Gem was still asleep just where he'd left her, as it were. He got up slowly, his head spinning but his body telling him he had to use the bathroom in a bad way. As he made his way back to his room after brushing his teeth and drinking about ten gallons of water he paused in the open door of Jesse's room.

Gem was right. It didn't hurt so much now, in the light of day. Jesse was dead, that much was true. But it really hadn't been his fault. There were things he could have done differently and if he had the kid might still be with them. But the same could be said of Dom, Leon and even Letty's actions that day. So maybe there were things he could have did, but there were things they all could have done. No one did them. Hindsight truly was twenty twenty so now all he could do was second guess the events anyway. It was over and in the past.

He wandered back into his room and flopped back on the bed. The rocking motion woke Gem. She opened her sleepy eyes and waited for them to adjust to the gloom of waking in the basement not her sunny second floor room. When she'd adjusted to the low light she looked around before finally finding him. "Morning." She croaked. "Why does my head hurt so much? I wasn't the one who was drinking."

"No, but you did your fair share of crying."

"Oh yeah." Gem sighed. "How do you feel?"

"Like hammered shit." Vince answered honestly. "But better than I have in a long time, strangely enough."

"Good." Gem sat up and stretched. "Maybe I'll feel better after I shower."

"Go on then. I'll catch up with you in a few and we'll go get something to eat someplace."

"We should likely go talk to Mia so she knows everything is ok."

"Everything's not ok, but it's getting there." Vince admitted honestly.

"That's all we can ask for really." Gem said enigmatically as she stooped to pick up her pad and pen before heading upstairs to her own room and her shower.

She and Vince did go eat with Mia, who looked almost unreasonably happy to see both of them alive and well. After that Vince went to the garage to finish the day and Gem went with him just to hang out with him and the boys. She didn't feel like being alone. She brought her notepad and pencil and figured she'd polish off the song while she listened to Vince and his friends carry on. She was laying on the hood of Letty's purple car, adding to her lyrics when Cory walked up to her.

"What you writing?"

"A song for tomorrow." Gem answered, preoccupied.

"Really?"

Gem nodded yes.

"Can I see it?"

Gem looked up and looked around. For some reason she was tempted to let Cory read the song. She'd never had any desire to let anyone read anything she wrote before she preformed it before. But she was nervous about this one and thought Cory might be a good neutral sounding board. "I guess, but I normally don't let anyone read my stuff. It's like my personal thoughts, almost like a diary so you can't say anything to anyone."

"But you're just going to sing it out loud tomorrow night."

"I know, but its different then."

"If you say so." Cory gave her a look letting her know even he saw the flaws in her logic. He read the song quickly. "This really is like reading your diary out loud isn't it?"

"Uh huh." Gem admitted as she took her pad back.

"It's good." Cory assured. "Is it about anyone I know?" He asked with wisdom that should have been beyond his years.

"No." Gem stammered. She'd hoped it hadn't been that obvious. She hoped to the rest of the people who heard it, it wouldn't be.

"Well, it was still good." Cory assured as he went back to work.

Gem went to work that night still not feeling up to par. She put it down to the trying few days and tried not to let her fatigue show on the outside. It did a little to raise her spirits when Vince never showed up. She hoped that meant he was at home with Mia not drinking. Maybe he was done with killing his guilt by drowning it.

She finally got a hold of Cindy on her first break and was glad to hear her friend had talked to the psychiatrist the clinic had recommended and she was going to be seeing him once a week for the next while at least. That was very good news to Gem. Now, if she could only get Vince to admit he could use some time talking to a professional too she'd be happy with her lot.

She went home and the house was already totally dark. She noted both her friend's cars were home as she dragged herself tiredly up to her bed and crashed.

Thursday night came in a rush that left Gem worried about what she was going to do. She had seen first hand Vince's reaction to being in her songs last week. How would he respond to her newest one? There was nothing she could do about it now. The song was written and she couldn't take it back.

She phoned Vince around seven to make sure he was even coming and to tell him something else. She needed him to bring his acoustic guitar instead of electric. The song she'd written just hadn't seemed appropriate to the electric guitar so she'd written it for a six string. He agreed, although he seemed confused by the request.

By seven thirty he was with her and Tamica in the green room just waiting on Elliott to show. Elliott showed up at ten to eight, telling them a traffic accident had held him up.

"You're here and that's all that matters." Gem assured as she handed him his music. It was a pretty simple drum line, really it just kept the rhythm of the song for the most part. There were a few simple rifts in it but mostly it was straight forward. They'd programmed a soft violin line into Tamica's keyboard to accompany the rest of their playing and were finally ready to go on.

Gem couldn't remember the last time she'd been so nervous getting up on stage. It was even worse than when she'd gone up the first night to sing 'Break Away'. Maybe because the subject matter of this song was libel to make Vince hit the roof. There was no help for it now. He'd hopefully see it was more about her and her inability to deal with it all if she kept it inside than it was about him and not be too mad at her for it.

"And now we welcome Indigo Sound." Nalia called as the hands on the clock pointed to eight on the nose.

"Here we go." Gem said as she stood up and tossed on her bass.

"Don't sweat it princess, if the music is anything to go by this is good."

"Thanks V." Gem tried to smile at him, hoping he still felt the same way after he'd actually heard the song. They took the stage to applause and set up their instruments.

Mia was sure that Gem hadn't seen her in the dark corner usually reserved for Vince alone. She was hoping that was the case as Gem's brother had taken her up on her offer and was currently nursing a Coors beside her. Mia was quite sure that Gem wouldn't appreciate her brother showing up to check up on her. And that was clearly what Doug was up to.

"They're really good." Mia said, trying to make conversation.

"Is that your friend Vince up there with her?"

"Yeah, he plays guitar. He's really good at it which isn't something that can be said for Gem." Mia said with a smile.

"Where did Vince learn to play guitar?"

"He mostly taught himself I think. He knew some guys in junior high and high school who played so they likely taught him some things too. He reads music and plays by ear so he might have taught himself by hearing other people play and then fine tuned his playing by having those other guys teach him to read music."

"He just doesn't seem like the musical type."

"There's a lot to Vince that isn't obvious on the outside." Mia said, her displeasure at Doug's obvious snap judgement of both of them coming across. Doug held up his hands in temporary surrender. He'd found out some things about Vince. He knew he was only brushing the tip of the iceberg about the inked up man but what he'd already found out was enough to make him want to take his sister forcefully home with him right now.

He knew that wasn't going to happen but he damn sure was going to enlighten Gemmalynn about her new friends.

Gem stepped up to the microphone. "Our newest song is called Breathe. Enjoy." With that simple introduction she glanced at Tamica, who started to play the keyboard melody. After the first chord Gem began to sing.

"_Two am and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake. Can you help me unravel my latest mistake? I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season."_ Gem's voice was accompanied only by the simplest of piano notes until she started her next sentence, when Vince cut in with his own set of haunting simply notes on the acoustic he'd obligingly brought.

"_Yeah, we walk through the door, so accusing their eyes, like they have any right at all to citizen. Hypocrites, you're all here for the very same reason."_

"_Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable and life's like an hourglass glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button girl, so cradle your head in your hands_.

"_And breathe," _

Tamica hit the key that let the violin score start to play and Gem started to strum her bass at the same time.

"_Just breathe. Woah breath, just breathe_."

Vince remembered her telling him about her friend and he didn't know how she found the strength to sing about it, as upset over it as she'd been. He kept playing for all he was worth, humbled by the fact she was willing to open up her private hurts and share them with the public. She continued to sing.

"_May he turned twenty one on the base of Fort Bliss. Just today he sat down to the flask in his fist. Ain't been sober since maybe October of last year. Here in town you can tell he's been down for a while, but my God it's so beautiful when the boy smiles. Wanna hold him, maybe I'll just sing about it_."

Gem felt herself start to tear up when she sang about Vince and what he'd been through. She knew she had to keep it together until the end of the song, no matter how much reliving both Cindy and Vince's stories hurt her. She had to get them out.

"_Cause you can't jump the track we're like cars on a cable and life's like an hourglass glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button boy so cradle your head in your hands and breathe, just breathe_. _Woah breathe, just breathe_."

Mia found herself trying hard not to cry as Gem sang her beautiful words about Vince. Her song had such a poignant message to them all. They couldn't live life like they would have the chance to change any of it. They had to live life like they had a finite amount of time to do it in. And mostly they hadn't been. It was time to start.

"_There's a light at each end of this tunnel, you shout. Cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out. These mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again, if you only try turning around_."

She was talking to him, and to her friend Cindy and Vince knew it. Strangely enough her song featuring his life didn't bother him this time. There was no malice in it, it was just her way of dealing with everything that had happened.

"_2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song. If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me, threatening the life it belongs to. And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd, cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud, and I know that you'll use them however you want to._

"_But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable, and life's like an hourglass, glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button now. Sing it if you understand. _

"_And breathe, just breathe. Whoa breathe, just breathe, oh breathe, just breathe_. _Ohhh breathe, just breathe. Oh breathe, just breathe_."

Because it was all you could do. Just breathe.


	7. Satellite

**Catalyst**

_By -TempestRaces_

Chapter 7 – **Satellite**

"**_A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for_."**

♫_ William Shedd_♫

When her song ended Gem had her own advice running through her mind. _Just breathe_. In. Out. In. Out. She couldn't allow herself to fall apart on stage in front of so many people. How would that look? Focus on the routine. Unplug the bass, turn off the amp. Sling the instrument behind her body. Smile and wave to the crowd. Don't panic. Don't run away. Walk normally. Keep smiling. God, was it always this hard?

_You can't give in to hysterics girl. Keep it together. Keep smiling_.

_In._

_Out_.

_Put one foot in front of the other and start down off the stage_.

_In._

_Out._

She started down the corridor toward the green room at her normal pace taking a deep breath in and letting it out rhythmically to try and keep her composure. She reached the green room and pulled out her bass case before starting to place the guitar into the case, onto the blue velvet lining within.

As she was snapping the latches on the black rectangle her bass called home Vince burst into the room. She turned to face him, expecting to be taken to task for again writing a song about him. She steeled herself for it, focusing again on the rhythm of her breathing, of her own heart. She knew her pulse was beating out a staccato rhythm at the base of her throat, she could feel it pounding there. She was sure he could even see it, it was beating so loudly she was confident he might even be able to hear it. Lord knew, she could. But she refused to lose her calm with him again, no matter how tenuous her hold over it was. A fight with Vince was the last thing her bow string tight nerves could take.

She slowly looked up to meet his eyes. She didn't find censure there, but she wasn't sure what exactly he was thinking. His gaze was shuttered. That didn't bode well for her, she was sure of that. Even if he wasn't mad.

"You alright?" He asked, tone belaying the fact he was fairly sure she wasn't.

"Yeah." Gem answered-a pretty lie-and moved to leave the room with her case clutched to her body.

"Why don't I believe you?" Vince asked as she had her back turned to him on her way out the door. She paused, her body stiffening as her posture became utterly perfect and all her muscles tensed up.

"I don't know. Why don't you?" She asked without turning around, trying to remain calm. Why didn't he? Anyone else would have. She'd perfected the art of hiding her emotions from the rest of the world ages ago. So why did he see through the act to her upset?

"Because you're as white as a sheet under your tan and your eyes have a half wild look to them."

Gem really hadn't been aware how obvious the fact she was starting to fray at the edges was to the outside world. "I'm going to be ok. I'm just going to go back to work and everything will be fine."

"Someone told me once it was ok to let go and be upset. I like to think she was right."

"She was, but in this case it won't help anything."

"Oh, I see. It's ok for her to keep her feelings bottled up to herself but for other people it's not?"

"It's not that. It's just something I'm going to have to work through V. I'll be ok." She turned to look at him and hoped the look on her face was reassuring.

"I know you will be, I just think you'd be ok faster if you didn't act like you have to take the world on single-handedly and come out without some things to deal with yourself. What you went through for your friend wasn't easy for you to deal with and I just think trying to pretend it didn't bother you isn't good for you."

"You're one to talk!" Gem retorted, her voice rising slightly in pitch. "I have to start a ripping fight with you to get you to talk about anything bothering you, and you have to be drunk I might add."

Vince caught himself before saying the first thing that came to mind, which was that she should try it sometime. When she took that advice she ended up being brought home by biker gangs. He sighed. "That might be true, but look where it ended me up. So why, when we've already covered how I am isn't the best I could be, would you want to use me as an example?"

"I don't. At least, I wasn't saying it was good. I was just saying you're in no position to cast stones."

"I'm not trying to throw stones. I'm just saying you look very upset and I don't want to see you like this. The other day when you were with us at the garage you looked so happy. I just want you to be that way again. I don't like to see you like this."

"I'm just having a down day Vince. I'll be fine." She said vehemently, as if to convince both herself and him.

"Is it this frustrating to you and Mia when I refuse to tell you what's wrong with me and just growl and go my own way?"

"Yes."

"No wonder you guys get so pissy."

"Yeah. Yet no matter how pissy we get you still don't decide to let us in on what was bothering you."

"Game, set, match Gem. Deal on your own." Vince said and tossed his guitar into the case. "I get the feeling its how you like it anyway."

"And you're one to talk!" Gem snapped. What was it about him and his hard bitten attitude that made her turn every debate they ever had into an argument? Not that he was any better. "I'm trying to deal ok? That's more than you do. You just hide from your issues behind a bad attitude and booze."

"You're trying to deal?" Vince asked in disbelief. "What you're doing looks an awful lot like running away from your issues by throwing yourself into your job and pretending everything is just perfect."

His observation hit a little too close to home. Another discussion gone to seed in a heartbeat because it was Vince she was trying to converse with. There was something wrong with the two of them! "Who asked you anyway?"

"No one. But when it's you sticking your nose in my business that doesn't seem to matter."

"Well, maybe that's because I don't do stupid things like drive drunk and prove to the whole world I really do need a keeper three quarters of the time."

"I've been trying!" Vince yelled back. "I was the way I am a long time before you ever came along. I know sometimes I do stupid stuff but I'm trying not to. I'm trying to be good enough for-" He trailed off and shook his head. "Are you even trying to stop thinking you need to keep calm and cool in every situation and keep all your troubles to yourself?"

"I don't keep all my troubles to myself."

"Oh really? So why are you still driving that grey car around?"

"Because I don't have the money to replace it yet." Gem shook her head from side to side, wrinkling her nose. How was that even relevant? "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I told you I'd help you replace it but you won't take my help because that might compromise your independent act." Vince tossed up his hands and continued with his voice slightly raised. "We get it already that your family tried to keep you under their thumb so you had to break away and move to make it on your own. You're doing a good enough job now that it's ok to take some help when it's only offered to help you be even more independent and successful on your own and not to keep you tied down."

Gem sighed tiredly. He was right. He was right and she hated to let him know it. "I know I take some of how my family made me feel about leaving them out on you with the whole car issue but it's really more complicated than that. They don't want me to be a performer. They don't want me to be a performer so vehemently that it's made me totally dedicated to making it and making it without their help. I guess I do think that I have to make it on my own without anyone's help because of how they made me feel about it but I was always self sufficient Vince. It's nothing you should be taking personal."

Gem really didn't want to share the rest of the reason behind why she was so determined to make it on her own but she knew she had to, otherwise he would never understand. "The final straw that made me move away from my folk's place was overhearing Nick telling a friend of his what Doug said about my odds of ever making anything of myself. Now I have to do this and I have to do it on my own because I have to prove I can, and my family can go whistle."

"I'm not your over bearing brother Gem. I don't have anything but your best interests in mind."

"Neither does her over bearing brother." Doug broke in with a growl from the door. "We never said we wanted you to fail." Doug addressed his sister.

"No, you just told me not to move and convinced mom if I did it would be the last she'd ever see me because I'd end up raped and murdered in a ditch someplace. Then you went out of your way to convince dad that I'd never make it as a singer because I wasn't good enough. That I was only good enough to play for backup in some washed up band or sing karaoke and by letting me come to L.A. I was just going to find that out from someone who wouldn't be as nice about it as you all would as my family and I was just going to end up broken hearted. Nick heard you telling them those things and I heard him telling his friend about it. How could you?"

"Well, this city does have one of the highest crime rates in the whole country." Doug tried to justify his position, unable to justify his position on her singing ability and deciding to simply let that part drop. If she'd let him.

"You're wrong as a matter of fact," Gem said, already mad with Vince and rendered unable to deal with Doug in the rational manner she normally would have. "The state of California has a low rate of crime for its size. It was twenty fifth on the last website I checked."

"Well, whatever Gem. It stands to reason that in a city of this size there are going to be more crazy people and criminals than there are in a smaller city. You moving here alone at twenty two wasn't smart. You shouldn't be alone in a place this size. You're going to end up getting hurt." Doug shot a malevolent look at Vince.

"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it's not like I go into areas where I'm likely to meet those people. If I do get hurt than at least it happened because of a decision I made of my own free will. Besides, I'm not alone anymore."

"You lived in a boarding house for the first three weeks you lived here and you didn't tell any of us. Then you moved into the house of two virtual strangers and again didn't tell us and didn't even try to find out anything about them first. It wasn't smart."

"I didn't want to hear what I'm hearing now. I wanted to be left alone to live my own life for a change. At least Nick sees that. I just don't know why you insist on treating me like I don't know my own mind, can't make my own way. I don't know why you insist on treating me like I'm still twelve not twenty two."

"Because you make stupid decisions like picking the home of a wanted criminal to move into." Everyone paused for a moment as Doug's bombshell sank in. Taking the shocked look on Gem's face as an indication she hadn't known he ploughed ahead. "Yes, that's right. The safe, normal people you live with are criminals."

Gem could feel emotions pouring off Vince and was very grateful for the fact he was holding them all in. In about five seconds she knew it was more than she was going to be able to do. Her shock wasn't over what Doug had revealed but rather that Doug had dared to reveal it right in front of Vince. Like his feelings didn't matter and it was ok to embarrass him, treat him like he was less than a person because of something he'd done so long ago. "No Doug, they're not." She managed to answer rationally, by some effort she hadn't even been sure it was in her to make.

"Yes! At least he is." Doug pointed at Vince. "I checked and he-"

"Has a record. Yes I know. However, that is for events of some time ago and he is not currently wanted for anything. He was cleared and I never once asked you to go digging into the background of my friends."

"It doesn't matter to you that the person playing off being so concerned about you has been in prison? For armed robbery!"

"It matters a great deal to me that he was honest enough to tell me about it of his own free will long before you ever decided to use it to discredit him. It matters to me that he did it, however misguided, to try and keep food on the table and a roof over Mia's head while her own brother was in jail for something stupid he did to the man who killed their dad. And most importantly it matters to me that he did his time, paid his debt to society and works harder than almost anyone else I've ever met. We can't all be perfect like you Doug."

"You think the only thing he ever did was rob a liquor store back in his teens? Oh little sister, that's just the tip of the iceberg." Doug clearly did not know when to leave well enough alone. His patronising tone set Gem's frayed nerves even farther on edge. "There was a hell of a lot more."

"Really?" Gem asked sarcastically. Of course, she already knew.

"Yeah, really. There was a string of petty charges for drugs and street racing. Not to mention a couple fines for weapons charges. Then there was a thing with transfer trucks a while ago. A bunch of guys were heisting them right off the highway. Why don't you ask your hard working, honest friend how he got the scar on his arm? Where he was this time last y-"

"I already know!" Gem screamed at her brother, finally driven past her breaking point. She barely held back from yelling they weren't all guys heisting that truck just to shock Doug the way he'd surely shocked Vince by coming out with all this in public. Especially now that they had a small audience in the form of Mia, Tamica and Elliott. "He told me everything right off the bat because he's even harder on himself than you're being on him now and he wanted me to know. I know everything you think you do! And guess what? I don't care! It didn't make me think less of him when he told me and it doesn't make me think less of him now that you are. So keep your nose out of my business!"

As Gem finally snapped and went running out of the room after pushing past Doug, he could only stare after her in shock. She had never lost her cool like that with him before. He wasn't sure what to do. His indecision about action kept him rooted in the door, slightly on an angle where Gem had pushed him to the side to rush past him.

The indecision didn't affect Vince. He took off after Gem like a shot, concerned about letting her drive so worked up. Not so concerned he didn't make sure to bump her brother however. He made sure his shoulder connected with Doug's. Hard. Without sticking around to enjoy how his newly restored bulk knocked Gem's studious older brother back into the wall, he ran down the hall after Gem. "Gem, wait up." She just shook her head and kept running, wiping at her eyes as she ran. She made better time through the crowd than Vince could with his considerable size. By the time he made it to the parking lot she was pulling out of it as fast as her Honda could take her.

He started for the Maxima, intent on following her where ever she was going. He knew she couldn't push her car very fast and was quite confident he could tail her easily. He wasn't leaving her out there alone in a car that could let her down any time in the state she was in. He knew a break down was the last thing she was equipped to deal with in her mental condition. As he was about to put his key into the lock he was shoved from behind into the side of his car.

"This is all your fault." Doug didn't attempt subtly. He felt one way about the situation and he stated it baldly. The scene with his sister, and finding out how many people had seen it had set him farther on edge as well. He was supposed to be almost finished of his training as a lawyer. So where were his instincts about what he couldn't say if he didn't want to end up sued for slander? Unfortunately his sister was right. Her friend had been cleared of any wrong doing, even if the charges had been dropped because the evidence had miraculously disappeared, the 'arresting' officer had mysteriously disappeared, and the truck driver in question hadn't wanted to answer to weapons charges for carting around a twenty gauge shot gun without the proper restraints and permits, not to mention shooting it at said arresting officer and shooting the man in question.

"How do you fuckin' figure?" Vince growled. "If you hadn't treated her like she couldn't make up her own mind she wouldn't have run off."

"If you hadn't gotten involved with her in the first place it wouldn't be an issue."

"And yet it all ties back to you trying to treat her like a baby not an adult. Your attitude is what drove her to Los Angeles in the first place and if she hadn't come here she would never have met me. So when you really think about it, it's all your fault."

Doug paused for a moment and blinked at Vince. Was the Neanderthal actually correct? Should he be blaming himself for this mess because he treated his sister like she didn't know her own mind? No! He only had her best interests at heart. Could the same be said for the tall, tattooed man he was fighting with? He doubted it.

"How is it helpful for you to fill her head with ideas that she can make it as a singer? We both know it'll never happen. What, one in a million girls who want a record deal actually get one? What happens to the rest of the million? Ask yourself that."

"Why are you so sure Gem won't be that one girl? She's really good and so is the rest of the band. With Tamica and Elliott behind her she could be that one person who gets discovered. At least she's following her dreams, not just sitting at home playing it safe and dreaming of what might have been."

"I can't believe there are more people in the world who want to perpetuate her hope that she's going to be the next Kelly Clarkson other than her brother Nick, whom I might remind you gets paid to live with his head in the clouds."

"At least Nick isn't an arrogant jackass who treats her like shit."

"At least I shouldn't be in jail. Not like you should be, like the criminal you are!"

"That tears it." Vince growled low in his throat. Doug wanted to see criminal? _Be careful what you wish for. _Mindful of the fact no matter how mad she was at her brother she likely wouldn't appreciate Doug getting his face rearranged Vince knew he was about to throw the first punch anyway. On that thought he did, his right fist connecting with Doug's mouth with a satisfying crack that threw the smaller man to the ground.

Unable to act in a smart manner out of his own frustration Doug picked himself up, testing his jaw. Satisfied it wasn't broken he sneered at Vince. "Truth must hurt."

"Not really." Vince shrugged. "I was everything you accused me of at one point in my life. Hearing someone like Gem stand up for me goes a long way toward making me ok with it though." Vince smirked evilly. "I appreciate you driving her even closer to me. She sure as hell ain't gonna be looking to you for anything any time soon."

Doug didn't have a verbal rejoinder; he lunged for Vince instead and threw a punch of his own into Vince's jaw. He watched as the shaggy haired man shook his head. The smirk on Vince's face didn't bode well for him at all. He found out why in his next breath as Vince lunged for him and tackled him into the gravel, landing on his stomach and hauling back a fist, ready to slam him in the face again.

Doug looked up in what he was fairly sure was fear. He was no match for the large, rough man on top of him. Vince had grown up in the streets and had spent a great part of his life as a thug, both for Dominic and for other people who simply had the money. Doug had been able to find out a great deal about him by pulling some legal strings. In a street fight there was nothing resembling evenness between them at all. He caught another fist to the face and he felt blood run down the side of his face out of his nose. It didn't feel broken but it did give him the anger to fight back. He attempted to punch Vince again and only managed to land a glancing blow to the other man's eye area.

He watched as Vince raised his arm back to pummel him again. He fought the need to protect his head with his arms and waited for the blow to land.

"Vince! Jesus Christ! Get offa him!" Mia called as she rushed up and grabbed Vince's upraised arm.

"Mia, stay outta this." Vince growled. "He's got it coming."

"I'd be inclined to agree," Mia offered in answer.

Doug looked up at the dark girl in shock. She didn't seem like the type to harbour a desire to see another human being get, to quote popular phrase, the living snot beaten out of him. She wanted to be a doctor. Didn't watching someone get beaten up go against her ethics?

"But you can't think that Gem, no matter how angry she was when she left here, will appreciate the news you beat up her brother. Besides that, you're just proving him correct. If you beat him up in a parking lot you may as well be just another petty criminal," Mia finished with her hands on her hips.

"Christ Mia!" Vince exclaimed, not happy to have his desire to beat Doug to a pulp lessened by Mia's well thought out argument. "He told Gem she wasn't good enough to make it as a real singer!"

"Oh." Mia stomped her foot in anger. "I didn't know that." She stomped over to where Doug was still prone with Vince on top of him. She hauled back her size six pump clad foot and kicked Doug in the side. "How dare you say something like that to Gem? She's the most talented singer I've ever met and she writes all her own songs. You're a low life, snivelling worm! Just because you have no discernable talent for anything doesn't give you the right to put her down." Mia in a temper when she was righteously angry was a sight to see.

Her brows were drawn together in anger, her lips pulled back in a small snarl of her own. Her black eyes were flashing fire and her small frame radiated anger.

"Ow!" Doug called as he fought to get free from Vince, feeling like he was being held down helplessly while they beat on him. He was almost more afraid of the small Italian vertigo with her pointy shoes than he was of Vince. "That really hurt!"

"Well good," Mia said as she cocked her leg back to kick him again.

"Enough Mia, you made your point," Vince put a stop to the violence with a weary sigh. This wasn't proving or settling anything. He stood up off Doug and surprised himself by reaching down to help the older man up off the ground.

"How can you say that after what he said to her! No wonder she took off out of here so fast. How are we going to find her?"

"We're not. You're going home and so is Doug. I'm going to find her."

"How?" Mia asked, her brows still knitted together in a frustrated frown.

"I think I know where she went. I'll find her. You two go home." Vince shoved Mia toward her car gently and to his surprise she went with another dark look for Douglas Davis.

"Why do you get to go find her and dismiss me? I'm her brother."

"Yeah, well you sure as fuck didn't act like one tonight and that's why I get to go find her. Do you really think she wants to talk to you right now?"

Doug sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean to say she was never going to make it as a singer ok? I meant to be realistic about her odds. They're not great so why set her up for a bigger fall than she has to be set up for already? I don't want to see her hurt."

"And you think she wasn't by you belittling something that means more to her than anything? Jesus Christ, you're not very logical for a lawyer. Besides that, why are her odds so bad? She's smart, she's really great at what she does and she has a presence on stage that's enough to turn a few heads if the right people see her up there doing her thing. The right people that-had you spent your time investigating her boss instead of me-you would know Barry knows. I'm sure, when the time is right for Gem to advance beyond what she's doing now Barry will make sure those people see her sing. Not to mention that if Mia and I have anything to say about it we'll personally hand out her demo tapes to every music executive we can find."

"Like you don't have some vested interest in that as part of the band she plays with." Doug sneered. He was trying to find a way to make himself feel better about his bad call on the whole situation.

"Not really I don't. I won't make records with her and I think she knows that already. I'm just here for a good time on Thursday nights. I'm not looking to make it as a guitar player. I'm exactly what I told Gem all along. A twenty five year old reformed criminal who runs a garage and drives too fast. I'll be quite happy to cheer Gem and the rest of Indigo Sound on from back stage once they get discovered."

"So why are you even playing with her now?"

"Because she needed me to. And now that she's had some time to cool off she needs me to find her and make sure she's ok. Just like she needs you to go fuck yourself someplace else for awhile, until she has time to get herself together." Vince dusted off the knees and shins of his pants from where he'd been straddling Doug in the dusty gravel before getting in the Maxima.

"How do you know I won't follow you so that I can have a chance to explain to her tonight?"

Vince grinned. Telling Doug to go fuck himself had gone a long way toward restoring his mood. "You're welcome to try and keep up. Good luck brotha." He slammed the door shut and started up the powerful engine with a roar before backing out of the spot with a quick motion and snap of the wheel before slamming it into first and pulling out of the lot spewing gravel with a fishtailing motion.

Doug could only watch him go with a frown. There was no chance he was going to keep up with Vince. None at all. Even if his car wasn't a Toyota Corolla he still doubted he could. He headed for the local Best Western instead. He wasn't heading back to San Francisco at this hour of the night. It was a four hour drive and it would be midnight before he got back. He figured he'd go get a good night's sleep, calm down as much as he could and get ready to go apologize to his sister in the morning.

♫

Gem drove away from the Cobalt as fast as she dared, looking constantly in her rear view mirror expecting to see the peculiar headlights of Vince's car following her. She knew she wouldn't miss them. They were HID and very, very bright. Not to mention they took on an almost blue cast. The front end of the Maxima was very distinctive and it never got behind her in the first fifteen minutes she was driving. After that she figured something had detained him or he simply hadn't been able to guess which way her path would carry her. Either way she was glad of the solitude.

Without really knowing how or why she found herself at the little beach Vince had taken her to, to tell her his story. She parked the car, turned it off and headed down onto the beach. She didn't have a blanket or towel in her car so she plunked into the sand uncaringly. So what if sand got all over her? Who cared? Her own family didn't think she could make it on her own. Even after hearing her Doug didn't think she was good enough to make it as a singer. It left her wondering who was being honest. Doug, or the others in her life.

There were certain things in her life she'd always accepted as truth. She wasn't very pretty. She wasn't the smartest kid in school. She had moments of not being terribly co-ordinated. She used her calmness as a shield to hide behind when people hurt her feelings. This constant calmness led people to believe she had no feelings or was uncaring. Frigid. Letting them think that was easier than dealing with them knowing they had the power to hurt her so she did.

It was like if she didn't let them know how much they'd hurt her, if she pretended like it didn't matter and she didn't care, just pretended that what they were saying about her was just a fact to her anyway than she'd turn the tables on them and any satisfaction they had hoped to get from hurting her would be hers instead when she didn't let on they'd managed. She tried to tell herself people could only hurt her mentally if she let them. It was a pretty thought in theory and it did have a tendency to make bullies give up quicker than they would have otherwise when they didn't get a reaction. But the sad fact was it still hurt, she just got good at not letting on.

But when it was your own family it was hard to accept they thought you were a failure.

There were certain things you were willing to overlook from the ignorant public that you were not willing to overlook from someone who'd changed your diapers and took you trick or treating at Halloween. Doug's rejection of her talent had hurt more than every guy who'd ever called her 'chubby' and every teacher who'd ever told her she needed to try harder when she was already trying her hardest put together. So she wasn't ever going to be a model and math and physics were beyond her grasp. She'd learned to play the bass by ear, learned to read and write music practically on her own and picked up trumpet and French horn in high school band just because. That was a talent in of itself and should be just as valued as if it had been skill at math or science.

She already had known Doug didn't think much of her plan to make her livelihood on her voice, but had he had to be so blunt about her potential to make it? She was young yet, she had a lot of years of being content to play in bars and other minor venues trying to do better before she ever thought of doing something else. Thought of giving up. So why couldn't Doug just let her try it her way and if it came down to it find out on her own she had to find something else to do? She had lots of years to go back to school and pick something else if singing professionally didn't work out for her.

And that was all beside the fact of what he'd said about Vince in front of everyone. Not only did he 'out' Vince without any right, he did it right in front of him. And he did it just to be mean and spiteful. It wasn't really Doug's style in all honestly but he'd still done it and it wasn't well done of him at all. It certainly hadn't been right of him to do it in front of a crowd of people either.

She picked up a handful of sand and let it run out through her fingers. She figured she should get up and go back to work, tell Barry she was ok and apologise for running off on him with no explanation. With a sigh she decided it could wait another few minutes. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on top, staring out over the water dejectedly.

♫

Vince wasn't sure if he'd ever have words to describe the relief he felt when he drove around a curve in the road and it allowed his head lights to illuminate Gem's car parked off the side of the road, beside the now vacant billboard. He didn't see Gem but he parked beside her car anyway and shut his off before looking down toward the water. He spotted her almost all the way to where the water lapped at the edge of the sand, sitting drawn in on herself and staring out toward the horizon. He wasn't even sure she was aware he was there.

He started toward her slowly. If this was how she felt walking up to him unexpectedly at the cemetery than he was surprised she did it. It was nerve racking to walk up to someone you knew was so upset just out of the blue like he was. He knew she wasn't going to be happy to see him and he didn't want to intrude on her thoughts. But on the other hand he knew there was nothing good to come of her sitting alone beating herself up over what her brother had said to her.

He stopped beside her before throwing himself onto the sand beside her.

"How'd you know where I'd go?" She asked without looking at him.

"Lucky guess. I figured you wouldn't know of anywhere else to go in L.A. You haven't been here long enough to have your own favourite places."

She nodded.

"Are you ok?" He knew she wasn't but he had to start somewhere.

"Yeah. I'm sorry for what Doug said."

He wished she'd look at him. Not just keep staring out over the water like she was broken. "You don't have to be sorry for something your brother said. He's old enough to know better for one thing, and for another he thought he was doing what he should do to keep you safe. How was he supposed to know I already told you all that stuff?"

"I don't care if he knew or not. I didn't ask him to check up on me or check into you and Mia. He had no right and he certainly had no right to reveal it all in public or talk about you like that right in front of you."

"No he didn't, but it's not your place to be sorry for him. He should be sorry for himself. Besides, it doesn't matter. He didn't say anything I never heard before. It's not like I care."

"I think that's bullshit." Gem bit out.

Vince looked at her in shock. That was only the third real swear word he'd ever heard her use in the whole time he'd known her. She continued.

"You tell yourself and the rest of the world you don't care so they don't know just how much you _do_ care. It's just that you can't let on you do because that would be a weakness and you can't let on to them or to yourself that you have any of those."

"How do you figure?"

"Because I'm the same way." It was strange to Gem that he should bring up the very topic she had been thinking about before his arrival. "I pretend that nothing anyone says about me has the power to hurt me because I don't want to give them the satisfaction. But that doesn't mean that on the inside it doesn't still hurt me.

"Like when guys pointed out that I was chunky I pretended like I already knew that and acted bored with them, like why were they telling me something I already knew. But it still hurt that instead of noticing me they noticed I could stand to lose a few pounds. It was a self defence mechanism, still is. If people think you don't care what they think, good or bad they tend to just go away and leave you alone. Same idea when they called me band geek. It hurt they were quantifying me as a thing and not a person." She picked up another handful of sand and let it slid through her fingers idly.

"There comes a time when you really do have to stop caring what others think and do what you want because you want to."

"You're just saying that because you have yourself so convinced you don't care what other people think. But I know you do, otherwise you wouldn't put yourself down so much and constantly act like you're not good enough to do so many things you want to do. If you thought it didn't matter what other people thought you wouldn't have been so angry that Doug said everything he did in front of such an audience."

How did she manage to peg him so well when she didn't really know him that well? Or did he just have himself convinced she didn't know him that well to make him feel more secure? He was starting to think he was merely thinking wishfully that she didn't know him as well as she needed to already. "I guess I do care that I not be judged on something I did a long time ago, or something I did and regret doing now."

"See! But yet you have yourself and most of the people around you convinced that you just don't give two cares what the rest of the world thinks about what you do. And that's fine for when you're just doing something like painting your car a strange color or playing music that most people would find odd, or dressing in clothes they don't think you should wear. But when they're judging you on something you can't change that's just an integral part of who you are it hurts. It's ok to not care what other people think of your clothes or your hair but when they don't like some part of _you_ like the colour of your skin or the kinds of things you like it's hard not to care, hard not to hurt."

Vince sighed. "Your brother realized he said something stupid after you took off. He was just trying to let you down easy in his own way I guess. It likely didn't help he was already so worked up over what he found out about me."

"Don't try to make excuses for him. He was an asshole," Gem bit out. "He had no right. Even if I can't sing any better than the rejects from American Idol, he's my brother. His style of trying to keep me from getting hurt always was to just try and discourage me from doing anything he thought there was any chance I couldn't do. He never wanted to just let me try, he always wanted me to play it safe. He should encourage me to do my best and if he can't than he should keep it to himself and support me anyway. "

"You're right. He just doesn't want you to be crushed if you're in the majority that never makes it not the minority that does."

"I know the odds of me actually getting a record deal are slim. But I still have to try. Do you understand?" She finally turned to look at Vince and found him looking back at her. When she realized he was looking back at her with one black eye she quickly came up onto her knees and leaned in closer. "What happened to your eye?" She touched the puffy part of his cheek gently.

"Why?" Vince asked, eyes narrowed.

"Because it's black and swollen."

"He got me hard enough for that?" Vince asked without thinking and wished he could take it back when he watched _her_ eyes narrow at him.

"He who?"

Vince looked away. "No one." He mumbled.

"Did you and Doug have a fist fight?"

"Um," Vince muttered as he tried to think up an answer to that question.

"You and my brother fought at my work!"

Vince looked back at her sheepishly. "If it makes you feel better it was in the parking lot, not in the Cobalt."

"Who started it?"

"That depends on what you mean by started it. I guess the last straw was when he told me I should be locked up for what I did, but I threw the first punch. I ain't proud of it, but when he said that on top of all the stuff he said to you I couldn't help myself."

"Is Doug ok? I mean, he was sort of a jock in high school but that was a long time ago and now he spends all his time with his nose in a book. You didn't kill him did you?"

"No! Of course not." Vince felt one corner of his mouth quirk up in a small smile when he thought of Doug on his back in the gravel after being taken down by him. "I only punched him once, but then he came at me and punched me so I sorta tackled him down and hit him again. Then Mia put a stop to it. Then I told Mia what he said to you and she kicked him in the ribs. I can't remember the last time I ever saw Mia that pissed. She actually stomped her foot at him first and I had to stop her from kicking him a second time."

With an image of her oh so proper older brother on his back on the gravel surface of the Cobalt's parking lot, Vince on top of him and Mia kicking him in the ribs on her mind, Gem started to laugh. "Oh, I wish I had been there to see that." She sat back down in the sand, closer to Vince than she had been before and allowed herself to laugh at the image in her head.

Vince joined her laughing for a moment before he fell serious once again. "Gem?"

"Um?" She replied as she wiped the tears her laugher had brought off her cheeks.

"Thank you." Vince said gruffly.

"For what?"

"For standing up for me to your brother. I don't think anyone ever stood up for me to anyone before."

"You don't have to thank me for that. You're far too hard on yourself Vince and I won't have someone like my brother use something you've done just to try and make you look bad and me look stupid. He had no right."

"Even still, thanks all the same."

"Don't mention it."

"Oh, don't worry. After tonight I somehow doubt you'll ever hear about it again." Vince said honestly and with a brief hesitation wrapped an arm around Gem's shoulders.

"Thank you for fighting my brother on my behalf."

"You're welcome." Vince answered.

"I guess it wasn't much of a trial for you." Gem giggled.

"Not really, no." He squeezed Gem a little closer to his side for a moment. "You almost ready to go home?" I know Mia's worried about both of us by now."

"We should go home so I can put something on your knuckles and eye."

"I've been banged up worse, don't worry about me."

"Should I be worried about Doug?"

"Well, I don't think his nose was _broken_."

"Oh man. I'm going to hear about this one."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. It will be worth every second of the picture in my mind of Doug in the gravel at work."

"Yeah, it's pretty funny." Vince chucked once more before again turning serious. "Gem?"

"Yeah?" She leaned against his warm side with a sigh. She wondered if it was ok to let Mia worry just a bit longer. Somehow, everything felt right again when she was alone with Vince, his mass warming her and the simplicity of his outlook making her world seem more orderly. Not to mention that somehow the way he smelled of Zest soap and orange hand cleaner mixed with whatever aftershave Mia had bought for him some Christmas past had become comforting to her. Familiar. She closed her eyes as she leaned her full weight into his side and inhaled deeply before shyly hooking her arms around his waist.

Vince used his free hand to brush some hair out of her face so he could look down at her closed eyes. "You didn't believe what your brother said did you? That you weren't that good as a singer?"

"It was hard not to believe my own brother but I tried not to."

"Try hard. He was just saying that to try and scare you into finding something safer to do. I know he just doesn't want to see you hurt but you're great on stage and I really mean that."

As compliments went it wasn't the fanciest or most flattering. But she was struck once again by how much more it meant to her just because Vince clearly meant each and every word. "Thanks. It all ties back to what I said earlier about pretending it doesn't hurt when it really does. But I'm trying to remember how much better I've gotten since I started working at the Cobalt and how much fun I have while I'm doing it now. At least when I'm not singing songs I know are likely to make my friends mad at me or bring up unpleasant memories."

"Well, I'll do my part to give you happy things to write about for next week. At least as far as my part in your songs goes. I can't answer for the rest of the people in your life."

"Deal. Do I have to talk to Doug?"

"Not tonight. I sent him packing for now. But I suspect he'll be around to say his piece tomorrow. Want me to call Cory when we get home and tell him I'm not coming in? That way I'll be home with you when he shows up."

"I don't think there's any need of that. I don't think he'll dare say anything else like he did tonight and if he does than I guess I know how to show him the door just as well as you do."

"And you better do it. No more putting up with his bullshit just because he's your brother. He can just pack up and head out until he has something nice to say."

"You said it."

"Well, we really should go before Mia calls us in missing." Vince said as he removed his arm from around Gem. She let him go with a sigh and watched as he stood up and dusted himself off. He reached a hand down to her and helped her to her feet. She followed his lead and dusted the sand off her pants half heartedly.

They started up the beach toward their cars, hand in hand. "No chance I could convince you to leave that thing here for the night and ride with me is there?"

"Not out here in the middle of nowhere V. I know the car isn't worth much but Nicky bought me the stereo and I'd hate to lose it. I'll follow you back."

"I'll go slow so you can keep up."

"The sacrifices you're willing to make for me never cease to astound me." Gem teased.

"You don't know the half of it." The light in his eyes was anything but teasing.

Instead of delving into it then Gem smiled softly and got into the Honda. She started it and waited for Vince to get his own car onto the road before backing up behind him and starting to follow him home.

And as she parked behind him at the curb she realized one thing. For the first time in forever she felt like she was coming home. She had been living with them for weeks now, but the house hadn't truly felt like home. It did now because tonight had shown her that the people she lived with now were acting a hell of a lot more like a family _should_ than her real family _was_.

She locked up the Honda and allowed Vince to take her hand to lead her up the stairs, onto the porch.

♫

Doug realized soon after he checked into his room that he wasn't going to be able to settle down until he talked to someone about what had happened. Since he couldn't tell his mother what he'd done, or even the full details of Gem's living and working situation he couldn't call her. He didn't know what advice his father would have for him and that only left one person to call.

Nick.

He wasn't looking forward to telling Nick what he'd said and done but Nick knew their sister better than he did and if anyone would know what to say to make it better it would be Nick. He dialled the number that would connect him to Nick's cell phone, never sure which number for which base and unit to call to reach his brother via the navy.

After a couple rings Nick picked up. "Hello."

"Hello Nick." Doug sighed.

"Doug? That you?"

"Yeah, it's me. How are things?"

"Fine, getting ready to move to Nevada. You?"

"That's why I'm calling, actually. I'm in L.A."

"Why?"

Doug could hear the suspicion in his brother's voice. "I dug into that Vince character's background.

Nick groaned. "Doug, I told you to leave it alone."

"I know! I just wanted to make sure he wasn't going to hurt her. What I found out wasn't that promising for that not happening. He's got a criminal record."

"So do I." Nick said in a low voice.

"That's different." Doug protested hotly.

"I stole a car, got caught and got in trouble. It can't be that different."

"You were a juvenile. This guy was an adult."

"Well, what did he do for crying out loud? I can tell already you messed this up, what ever you did. So you might as well tell me the whole story."

"He robbed a liquor store armed when he was nineteen or twenty and did time for it. He's been charged with a few counts of misdemeanour street racing in the last few years and a few counts for possession and trafficking two and three years ago. He got off on fines and community service for everything but the robbery."

"That's not great Doug, but the fact he hasn't been charged with anything recently likely does mean he's grown up and learned his lesson. Not everyone can grow up with a firm sense of right and wrong learned from their parents. Some people have to learn right from wrong on their own in their own way."

"If that was that I could likely deal easier than I am. But that's not all I found out about him."

"Well, what else is there?"

"Remember that thing in the news last August about the truck robberies? Those people hijacked five or six before one went wrong outside Coachella and the trucker shot up his truck and one of the attempted robbers."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Our sister's new boyfriend was the guy who got shot on the side of the truck."

"No shit! Really?"

"Yes really Nick. Am I likely to kid about something like this?"

"I just find that hard to believe."

"And when I told Gem do you know what she told me?"

"What?"

"That he told her ages ago and she didn't care. She already knew and she's still living with him. Maybe even dating him." Doug paused in pacing around his room to run a hand through his hair.

"I still don't see the issue. If she's still around him that must mean she was ok with whatever explanation he gave her for why he did it. Besides that, no one was ever charged in that case."

"No, because the undercover officer went missing along with all the evidence."

"Either way if the courts couldn't convict him of wrong doing neither can you."

"Fine, whatever. That's not even really why I called."

"Why did you call then Doug?"

"I found out tonight that you heard me trying to convince Dad not to let Gem come here."

"How?" Nick asked, confusion evident in his tone.

"Because Gem heard you telling one of your friends on the phone every word I said to dad."

"Shit." Nick groaned. This wasn't good.

"So when I told her she was as likely to win the lotto as she was to make it as a singer it reminded her of all the other stuff I'd said to mom and dad to try and make sure she didn't come here. So then when I said all that stuff about her friend Vince in front of other people she got really mad at me and took off out of here."

"Doug, you can be a real moron, you know that?"

"The point was driven home rather well by Vince's fist in the parking lot, yes."

"You got in a fist fight with him?"

"Well, he took exception to the fact I called him a criminal who should be locked up and hit me first. I simply defended myself. Then he told that Mia girl what I said and she kicked me. She had on a pair of those pointy shoes girls like and I have a bruise the size of Texas on my ribs."

"I can't find it in me to feel sorry for you right now Douglas."

"I know I messed up. But I have to go and apologise to her tomorrow and I don't know what to say."

"Sorry. What else can you say? I'm an idiot might help. Saying sorry to Vince might be another good start."

"Why should I say sorry to him?"

"For talking about his criminal record from years ago and a crime you can only speculate he did in front of a bunch of people none of you really know? Gee Doug, I don't know what you have to be sorry to him for!"

"Point made Nicholas. Were you always so sarcastic?"

"When I find out you broke my baby sister's heart yes."

"She's my little sister too!" Doug protested hotly.

"So fuckin' well act like it for once and treat her like she wants to be treated, not like you're some superior officer and she's one of your men to keep in line. Let her live her life and just let her know that should she run into trouble or fall down, you'll be there to help her back up if she wants you to."

"Christ, are you sure there isn't a career in law waiting for you too?"

"I wouldn't be the first pilot to go into JAG when he couldn't fly anymore."

Doug could hear the smile in his brother's voice. "You go ahead and crack jokes. You're not staring down the barrel of what I am tomorrow."

"You brought it on yourself Doug. Good night and good luck."

"Night."

Both brothers shut their phones. Doug kicked off his loafers and flopped back onto his bed, folding his hands behind his head. He'd over reacted and now he was going to have to pay the price.

♫

"Come on back to the kitchen. You really should put some ice on that eye or it's really going to be swollen tomorrow."

"Stop fussing. I'm fine."

"Let me fuss. It makes me feel better."

"If you put it that way." Vince allowed himself to be lead through the house by the hand and forced down into a kitchen chair. As he predicted it didn't take Mia long to figure out they were home and rush to the room.

"I'm so glad you're ok!" Mia called out as she rushed across the room to Gem's side. "I called Barry and told him you wouldn't be back tonight. He's concerned."

Gem returned Mia's hug gratefully. It was nice to know someone cared, even if it wasn't her own brother, but rather simply a good friend. "Thank you for calling Barry. I'll call him myself a little later and reassure him I'm ok."

"Don't mention it. _Are_ you ok?"

"Yeah. Well, I am now anyway. That's more than I can say for Vince, who I hear had a fist fight in the parking lot." Gem crossed to the fridge and tossed some ice cubes into a clean dish towel before making her way back to Vince's side. "Put that on your eye." Rather than give him a chance to obey she pushed the cloth to his face for him. "Hold it there."

"Yes ma'am." Vince answered sarcastically from under the dish towel.

"You should have seen them. After Vince told me what Doug said I wanted to let them keep fighting!"

"My brother isn't much of a fighter. It wouldn't really have been fair to let him go up against Vince for too long."

"Someone had to shut his damn mouth." Vince mumbled.

"He certainly was out of line." Mia added, her narrowed eyes and tight mouth showing she was still not over her anger.

"Well, he's going to be set straight tomorrow and that's all there is to that. I do wonder where he went after I took off though. It's not like him to not be here right now trying to get his way."

"Oh, Vince told him not to come here tonight. If you saw the fight you'd know there's not much of a chance of Doug defying him either."

"I should think not." Gem said primly. "I would hope Doug would know Vince's thoughts on the situation mirror my own. I don't even really want to hear from him tomorrow but I know he won't go home without one last effort to make me see my life his way."

"You don't have to listen to him," Vince moved the dish towel so he could see the girls. "I told you this. I'll stay home and sent him packin' again tomorrow."

"I'll send him packing myself. I don't need anyone to fight my battles anymore. This is my home not his and if he says one thing I don't want to hear than he'll be asked to leave. If he doesn't listen then I'll call you to come get rid of him." Gem said, addressing Vince.

"You better." Vince smiled before catching the glare Gem and Mia sent his way. He put the bundle of ice back on his eye.

"I'm going to go call Barry. Keep that on your face until I get back." Gem didn't want to hear Vince's answer, if he had one. She left the kitchen for the living room and dialled the number for the Cobalt. She explained the situation to Barry with as little detail as possible and returned to the kitchen after a quick pit stop in the bathroom and her room to change into her pyjamas.

Without telling Vince what she was about she poured some iodine onto a cotton ball. He had his head tipped back and the eye that wasn't under a white and red checkered dish towel closed. She moved up on him silently and got into position. Before he could hear her make a noise she pressed the cotton to the worst of the cuts on his knuckles.

"Jesus effing Christ!" Vince roared as he came aware of his surroundings rudely. "What the fuck is that stuff?"

"Iodine. You can't leave these go uncleaned."

"I woulda washed my hands when I went downstairs. You didn't have to try and burn my hands off."

"It can't be that bad. It's just a little sting."

Realizing that complaining about the pain from a little iodine wasn't very masculine Vince shut his mouth on whatever retort he had been planning and thought for a moment. "So you aren't going back to work?"

"Not much sense in it. It's already eleven. I might as well just stay home. Why?"

"Wanna go watch a movie? I rented a few yesterday for somethin' to do."

"I guess so. Want popcorn?" Gem asked.

"Sure."

Vince went to set up the TV and Gem started to pop the popcorn, knowing that for Vince the microwave was still as broken as ever. When she wandered into the living room about ten minutes later with a big bowl of popcorn, a Pepsi and a Corona she found Vince sitting in a sprawl on the far end of the sofa in the best position for seeing the TV. She set the popcorn down on the coffee table in front of him and set the two bottles of beverages onto coasters beside it.

"What are we watching?"

Vince named a popular new release and took a big handful of the popcorn, which he started to munch. Gem sat at the other end of the couch and curled her feet under her. A few minutes in she decided she wanted some of the popcorn. "Pass me the bowl, would you?"

"No." Vince didn't look away from the screen.

"What do you mean, no?"

"If you want some of it you're going to have to come down here and get it." He turned to look at her and smirked.

"Maybe I don't want any of it that badly." Gem said as she cocked one eyebrow, waiting for his reply.

He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Fine." She rolled her eyes and slid to the middle of the couch before trying to reach the bowl.

Vince used his foot to move the table, keeping it just out of her reach. He continued to watch the movie, acting as though he'd done nothing.

With a sigh she moved closer to him still and finally reached the bowl. She was well aware what he was up to. Giving him a hard time just made her feel better about giving him his way. As she started to eat her snack she waited expectantly. A few moments later out of the corner of her eye she saw the closer of Vince's arms start to move.

_If he doesn't yawn I'll be disappointed_.

She wasn't. A big yawn and stretch later one strong, tattooed arm was pulling her even closer to his side. She gave in easily and pulled her feet up under her as she leaned onto Vince happily. She somehow figured she shouldn't give him everything he wanted easily. It had occurred to her that in some cases it was better to keep Vince working for what he wanted than to simply give it to him on a platter.

On that note she settled even more comfortably into her new position on the couch and rested her head onto Vince's shoulder. After a fight with your brother there was something to be said for a comforting shoulder to rest your head on and a secure arm keeping you feeling safe.

"Well, what did you think?" Vince asked Gem as the credits started to play. He didn't get an answer. "Gem?" He asked, looking down at the top of her head. When he realized she was dead weight against his side he figured out she had fallen asleep.

Grateful she had put her pyjamas on when she'd gotten done taking care of his wounds he picked her up and carried her up to her room. Pealing back the covers on her bed he put her in and pulled them up around her shoulders. "'Night Princess." He said gruffly and left the room, closing her door on the way out.

Vince didn't want to lie to himself anymore. He was done with it. That meant he was trying to be ok with knowing how affected he was by Gem, and admitting to himself he was very affected by her, even though he wanted to keep telling himself he could take or leave her. Something as simple as watching a movie with her curled up against his side shouldn't have been so enjoyable. Shouldn't have made the fact he spent another night at home and didn't miss the bar ok. But yet it did. He wasn't sure yet if that was really, really scary or really, really good. Either way it was a fact. He took himself off to bed, not dreading the alarm clock's ring for the first time in a long time.

♫

Gem woke up the next morning with a yawn and stretch. She felt very well rested and content. Until she looked at the clock, saw it was after eleven and realized her brother would be coming around to talk to her any time.

She didn't know what to say to him. Perhaps she didn't know because she didn't have anything _to_ say to him. She knew from experience that he wasn't going to change his mind. He'd try to force his will on her and the old Gem would end up giving in and giving him his way. But the new Gem, the girl she was trying to be since moving to Los Angeles wasn't going to bend to his wants. She had her own and it was time to hold fast to them. Based on the fact she had figured he would show up much earlier, she held out some hope that he'd simply given up and gone home.

_Fat chance! You know he'd never pass up the chance to try and push his point of view one last time. You've known this boy your whole life. When has he ever let any argument go the first time he's shot down? It's part of what's going to make him a good lawyer_.

She shook her head and pulled on a pair of track pants and a tank top before heading down the stairs. Maybe she'd just not be home when he came looking for her. Why should she spend her day hanging around waiting on him to show up just to try and convince her again that she had no talent and should just pack up and go back home to her mother because she wasn't smart enough to make it on her own?

With that on her mind she snatched the keys to the Honda up off the table in the hallway and headed out the door, locking it behind herself.

As she drove away from the house she wasn't sure if she should go hang out with Vince or with Mia. She picked Mia first, thinking that due to the time of day she could play lunch fairy again for the boys. She headed the car toward Mia's lunch counter with the windows down, again hoping to catch a breeze. It didn't work out. It was hotter than hell's kitchen in her car. She got out of the stifling heat of her car's interior gratefully. At least the outside had a breeze.

She wandered into the shady interior of the café and sat down on one of the bar style stools in front of the counter. Mia had her back to the counter area and hadn't heard her come in. Gem leaned sideways trying to see what she was looking at. It looked like a school book. "Don't you have three weeks before you need to be reading those?"

Mia jumped as Gem's question startled her. "You scared me!" She put a hand to her throat. "Yes, I do have a month to be exact, but I can't start too early when I missed a whole year already. I'm going to have to take extra courses and summer school next summer if I want to catch up."

"You'll do fine Mia. No need to worry."

"I will if I study. I had to study a lot before and now it'll only be harder since I've been out for a year." Mia leaned back onto the counter before bracing her arms and lifting herself up to sit on one side of it, leaning over to rest her elbows onto her knees.

"You're going to do fine. I know that I'll do anything I can to help you out and I bet V feels the same way."

"Gem, I was thinking." Mia stopped talking, an uncertain look clouding her eyes.

"What is it Mia?" Gem asked, reaching out a hand to touch her friend on the arm. She sensed whatever was on Mia's mind was really bothering her.

"What if you're career picks up and you don't have time to help me here? I don't want you to feel like you're stuck here because of me."

"Mia, if that happens I'll find my replacement and pay her myself so that you can keep going to school. _I_ want you to get into med school almost as much as _you_ want you to get in." Gem grinned. "Me getting a full time singing gig isn't all that likely so don't go holding your breath on it happening, ok?"

"I just hope you didn't let your stupid brother make you feel that way. He was wrong when he said that to you. You have just as much chance of making it as any other girl. More chance. You're really good at what you do."

"Thanks Mia. It means a lot, it really does. I didn't even realize until last night just how much my opinion of myself was based on me trying to convince other's I was good at what I do even though I didn't believe it. I know Vince is right and Doug is just trying to protect me from disappointment but what he doesn't seem to realize is that when he acts like he wants me to fail it's a bigger disappointment than not getting discovered ever could be."

"I hear you. I guess no matter how bad I had it with Dominic in the last year before he ran off I have to love him for always treating me like I could do whatever I wanted to. Even if he did push me in the direction of med school I wouldn't be trying it if it wasn't something I wanted to do. No matter how down I was about how hard it was going to be, or how much I didn't think I was smart enough to make it or dedicated enough to finish Dom was always the one cheering me on."

"Sometimes you guys make me think he's not the monster I built him up to be in my head. Then Vince will tell me about another shitty thing Dom did to him once upon a time and I loose any good thoughts I had."

"I have a hard time remembering the fact I should love him too sometimes." Mia leaned on the counter. "I guess it's like you and Doug in a lot of ways. He should be here, he should be supporting me but instead he bailed. I use to try and tell myself that he left me here because he knew that Vince and Jesse would need someone to be with them and since I was the one who wasn't really involved I was the logical choice since I was the one who wasn't going to be locked up by the police. But he didn't really know that when he took off, not really. How did he know they wouldn't charge me with something just to have someone other than Vince to put behind bars? I think he just didn't think there was time to come back for me so he didn't. He abandoned me here rather than try to come back for me and risk himself. So he decided that I was expendable and left me here."

"Maybe he thought if he was caught fleeing the country and you were with him than you would get implicated right along with him but if he left you here and didn't tell you anything about where he was going the cops wouldn't think you had anything to do with it, that you could just plead ignorance and not really be lying."

"Knowing Dominic like I do it was likely my version, but he had your version all prettied up to tell me as the reason why he never came back."

"But when you tell me about him pushing you to go to school and do your best it doesn't sound like he didn't always have your best interests in mind."

"He selfishly wanted at least one Toretto to make something of themselves I guess. I know he wanted to see me happy and with a real job instead of running this place for the rest of my life, but he also wanted to be able to say 'at least my sister's a doctor even if I'm just a mechanic and a street racer. He wasn't the easiest on himself about how he messed up his chance to follow dad's footsteps."

"I suppose had he been smart he would have tried to live an exemplary life and petitioned the racing governing body to reconsider their decision based on his good behaviour and the fact he did his time and paid his debt."

"I agree whole heartedly. When I think about him now I spend half the time wondering if I'll ever see him again and the other half hoping I don't. I just don't know what I'd have to say to him if I were to see him again. He's my brother and I love him but he's a jerk and I don't really like him that much."

"I know what you mean exactly." Gem shook her head. "Boys!" She added exasperatedly. Both girls cracked up into giggles.

"And on that note, did your brother ever show up to eat crow for what he said and for fighting with V?"

"No. I decided if he hadn't been by the house by eleven I wasn't going to wait for him any longer. If he wants to find me to talk he'll find me."

"Ok, how about if I make up some lunch for everybody's favourite mechanics and you take it down to them?"

"Sure. They loved it last time we did that for them. You might want to put an extra sandwich in for Cory. The way he eats I'd think he should weigh three hundred pounds. Vince too."

"Well, they work hard so I guess they build up their appetites and work off the calories." Mia got to work on the food, laying out bread and getting the butter, mayo and mustard out of the frig. "You want ham or a club?" She asked, looking up at Gem.

"Club. I'll eat here with you this time."

"No you won't. You'll go eat with the boys," Mia saw Gem go to protest and cut her off before she could say a word. "If you take the time to eat here they might break for lunch before you get there."

"Alright already. If you don't want my company than I'll just go hang out with the boys. At least I know Cory will be happy to see me."

"Cory would be happy to see a saint Bernard if it came with food and Corona for him."

"Gee thanks. I like being compared to a giant, drooling dog."

"Good." Mia finished up her sandwiches and packed them up along with a bag of cold drinks. "There you go. Don't dawdle on the way down there."

"Ok mom, I'll go straight home." Gem rolled her eyes playfully.

"Just hush up and go." Mia answered as she pointed at the door. Gem left with a wave and headed the car toward DT. She walked into the shop and called a hello out to the guys. She was mobbed by Vince and Cory the second she finished saying she had lunch.

"I'm starvin' today." Vince said as he started fishing in the bag of sandwiches.

"You're always starving lately." Gem said as she handed Cory and Bill their food and allowed them to reach into the other bag of cold beer.

"I can't help it when I work this hard." Vince held his arms out to his sides and it revealed how covered in filth from head to toe he really was. He looked like he fought with a barrel of grease and most definitely lost.

"What in heaven's name were you doing to get so dirty?" Gem asked as she sat down on the couch and unwrapped her sandwich.

"Rebuilding an engine. Damn thing musta been leaking oil for the last three years. There was oil all over everything under the hood. And the oil picked up dirt too so the whole engine bay was just a fricken mess. I had to take everything out, clean it, replace half the internals and put it all back together. I'm just about done now but it was one of those jobs."

"Whoever owns that car must have a lot of money." Gem mused as she took another bite of her sandwich. She knew the Honda needed some of the same things Vince was describing doing to this other car, but she also knew she couldn't afford them.

"Not really, no. But when it comes to building a car sometimes you have to forget about the cost and go for quality."

"It must be nice to be able to think like that." Gem sighed.

"Someday. Just wait until you have more money than you know what to do with from your first contract. Then you'll know where to come to have your ride done up right." Vince winked playfully.

"Yeah, sure will."

"Did your brother come by the house?"

"No, he didn't. I didn't feel like waiting around on him so I went to see Mia and she told me to take you boys lunch."

Vince finished up his lunch. "You wanna help me work on something for awhile then?"

"Sure. It's not this really dirty one you were working on when you wrecked all your clothes is it?"

"No, not that one. I'm done with that one for today. I gotta put a new alternator in Hoshi Wu's Supra. I guarantee the engine bay of this one's so clean you could eat outta it."

"I'll pass, but I will help you with the alternator thingie."

Vince chuckled. "Deal." He grabbed Gem's hand and led her over to a red Toyota Supra in one of the bays.

♫

Doug pulled up to Gem's house with no small amount of trepidation. He wasn't looking forward to talking to her after yesterday's scene. Nor was he looking forward to telling her friend he was sorry. He got out of his car with heavy steps and walked up to the front door. He knocked and waited. When no one came to answer his summons he knocked harder and waited again.

He turned to look at the street and realized that there were no cars home. He walked down off the front step and around the back. There were no cars to be found, and that included Gem's Honda. With a muttered curse he walked back to his car and drove toward the location of Mia's café. He was purely guessing where Gem might go and to visit with one of her friends was the only thing he could come up with.

After stopping for directions several times he made his way through the unfamiliar Echo Park streets and pulled up across the street from Mia's café. He parked the car and got out, pushing his sunglasses farther up his nose agitatedly as he walked across the street and stepped up into the shade of the building.

He found Mia much as Gem had earlier in the day; bent over a text book reading up about subjects she had started to forget over the past year. He too took a seat at the counter and waited for her to notice she had company. He waited a few minutes and was about to say her name when she spoke.

"If you're waiting for me to start a conversation with you you're not done waiting yet." Mia didn't look up from her book. "I don't know that we have anything to say to each other."

Doug sighed. "I'm sorry for my conduct last evening. I'm not normally such an idiot."

"I've no doubt. If you were, you'd have been killed by an angry mob before you ever got as old as you are." Mia glanced at him quickly with anger before turning her eyes back to her book.

Doug winced. This wasn't going well. How was he going to win Gem over if he couldn't even win over her roommate? "I'm sorry I overreacted. I just want a chance to tell my sister how sorry I am. Do you know where she is? She isn't at home."

"I sent her down to the shop with lunch for the boys about an hour ago. If she's not still there I don't know where she is."

"Thanks." Doug moved to get up.

"Don't thank me yet. Vince and even Cory are going to be very protective over Gem. If you go down there you better watch your step. You got off light with Vince yesterday."

"She's with Vince right now." It hadn't occurred to Doug what 'the shop' was likely to be.

"Yes, well, he is the one who runs the garage." Mia shook her head at Doug's-in her opinion-stupidity, and went back to her book again.

"Could I ask you for a bit of advice?" Doug asked tentatively.

"I suppose." Mia gave up on her book with a sigh of irritation.

"Seeing as I'm really sorry for hurting my sister's feelings, and for saying all those things to Vince how would I best go about making it up to both of them?"

Mia laughed. She couldn't control the need. "You want to make it up to Vince? You think there's something you can do that's going to make this up to Vince. You need your head examined."

"That bad huh?"

"Oh yeah. Vince does not have a forgiving disposition. I know that if you tell Gem you're sorry and really mean it than she'll forgive you. She's always quick to forgive Vince at least. But Vince, Vince isn't going to forgive you for what you said. If he gets to a point where he can be in the same room as you without kicking your butt you'll be doing good."

"I do really mean it. I can't tell you how anxious I've been knowing that my little sister has been left alone in a city like Los Angeles. I feel I left her here alone. That's not something I ever thought I'd do. But I tried not to let her come here, I told her all the reasons why she shouldn't and even convinced mom and dad not to let her. But the thing is she is twenty two. I can't stop her if she really wants to do something and neither can our folks. But that doesn't stop me from feeling like I've abandoned her." Doug delivered his speech looking at his interlocked hands which were resting on the counter top in front of him.

"Well, my brother really did abandon me and trust me, there is no comparison between you letting Gem live her dream and you abandoning her in Los Angeles. All you have to do is let her know you want her to succeed, no matter what it is she's picking to succeed at. And let her know there isn't anything you think she can't do if she puts her mind to it. You shouldn't be trying to keep her safe by discouraging her from ever doing anything at all. Why should she even be alive if she never tries things she wants to do, never takes risks?"

"Because taking risks like Gem is taking rarely works out well. Some risks shouldn't be taken."

"Listen, I know about risk, and I've seen what happens when you risk everything and fail. But on the other hand I've seen what happens when someone risks everything and flies too. Can't you just let Gem have her chance to live that? Its fine to counsel her against things you think will get her hurt, but in the end, if she wants to try them anyway all you can do is stand behind her. You can't hold her hand forever."

"I guess since my mom and dad were always so busy with the restaurant and I'm so much older than Gem and Nick I always felt responsible for them since I was always taking care of them. It's made me feel like I do have a responsibility to keep her safe. I'm just more lenient on Nick because that's how we're all taught to treat boys, you know? I'm not sure I know how to let go and let her pick her own way. But I can try."

"And now all you have to do is tell her that." Mia smiled softly at Doug. "Trust me, no one knows what it's like to have her brother leave her behind like me, but Gem knows you didn't do that to her. But she wants you to be her brother, not her father. She has one of those. Dominic made the same mistake with me in the months after our father was killed. Trying to change our relationship and step into Dad's role and become the head of the household. But the thing was, I didn't want another father. I wasn't done missing the one I already had. But what I did really want was a brother. And that's all Gem wants too."

"I know you're right." Doug looked up at Mia. He had never stopped to think of how things had affected her. He knew from what he'd learned that she hadn't been involved. In fact, he had learned that most of the other people likely hadn't had much say in the whole venture after Dominic Toretto had decided it was something they were going to do. People who knew him said he was like gravity, pulling things down with him. It was just hard to juxtapose the Vince who had fought him in a parking lot with one who wouldn't speak his own mind and say no if an activity didn't appeal to him.

In her own way Mia Toretto was just as tough, if not tougher than Vince. She'd been abandoned by her own idolized brother. Since he'd run off he'd never once attempted to contact her. Not a phone call, not a post card. He was just gone without a trace.

"So, Gem's a given. She'll accept my apology. I can accept the fact that Vince likely won't, but is he likely to start throwing punches again?"

"Not at the shop. He's got Cory to set an example for there."

"Cory?"

"One of his mechanics. He's only twenty and he's been in trouble with the law before. He's always wanted to be into cars and racing but no one would give him a break with his record. Vince knows what it's like to have doors closing left and right because you have a criminal record so he took Cory on 'on probation' to give the kid a chance. He's been trying to lead by example in front of the kid at least."

"This is your way of making sure I know how badly I misjudged him isn't it?" Doug asked astutely.

"Yeah." Mia said, blushing slightly from being caught at telling things she knew Vince would rather no one knew.

"Point taken. All I can do is tell him I've been stupid and apologise. Then I'll give him some space to think it over. That, and of course space between us so he can't kick my ass."

"Sounds like a plan. Do you know where DT is?"

"No."

Mia gave him directions, writing them out on a napkin. Doug watched her sketch out the roads. Her black hair a shining curtain around her slim shoulders and her caramel skin glistening in the heat. She handed him the paper with a shy smile. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Doug took the map and started out of the café. He paused just outside the large open doors and looked back over his shoulder to find Mia watching him go, an unreadable look on her face. He got into his car and pulled away, hanging a right to head down the first road he'd been told to take to find DT performance automotive.

♫

"Ok, put the wrench over that tab on the end of the tensioner and push down." Vince instructed Gem.

"Like this?" She asked as she moved the wrench tentatively toward the aforementioned tab on the pulley assembly of the Supra they were working on. They'd gotten the alternator back in already and were now trying to reinstall the main engine belt.

"Sorta. Here," Vince moved in behind Gem and reached around her, grabbing her hand around the wrench in one hand and the belt in the other. He rested his chin on her shoulder so he could see what he was doing and moved her arms to the right places before helping her move the pulley assembly downward and shoving the belt around the last pulley. "Ok, now let it up slowly and then take the wrench out," he helped her move the tensioner back into place slowly so it wouldn't snap back and then allowed her to remove the wrench from around the metal item.

"Is it done now?" Gem asked as she looked down into the engine compartment. She now knew what an alternator was and what it looked like. She was unnaturally happy about having the knowledge, cars always being something that she took for granted and knew nothing about.

"Well, mostly," Vince said as he wrapped his arms around Gem's waist from behind.

"What's left?" Gem asked and rested her hands on Vince's where they were interlocked in front of her.

"Start it up and see how it works."

"Uhhum." Someone cleared their throat behind the couple.

Vince looked back over his shoulder to see who it was, expecting a customer, only to find Doug standing behind him carefully out of arm range. "What?" He snarled out.

"Who is it V?" Gem asked, unable to see who was behind Vince because his shoulders got in the way.

"Your brother," Vince answered honestly, unable to see where lying would get him any farther ahead.

"You may as well let me go talk to him," Gem said softly for Vince to hear. He turned her loose reluctantly.

"You need me just give me a shout. I'll be right here finishing this up," Vince told Gem. It was clear he was reluctant to leave her alone with Doug.

"Ok, I won't be long anyway."

Vince nodded and watched as Gem and her brother walked off toward the couch in the corner of the shop. Neither sat down, both preferred to stand.

♫

Doug watched as Gem crossed her arms across her chest and glared at him. "What?" She asked sharply.

"I came to apologise."

"You don't have to apologise for your opinion Douglas. You can't help the fact you don't find me talented. There's no need to apologise for that." Her words gave absolution even as her tone took it away.

Doug ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. "I do find you talented Gem. I really do."

"Then why did you say all those things to mom and dad?"

"Because I didn't want you to do this. It has nothing to do with whether I think you can sing well enough to pull it off Gem. I don't want to see you hurt if you don't make it. The show business industry is harsh and I don't want to see what it will do to you in the long run. You've always been so level headed and cool. I don't want to see you jaded by this city and constant rejection."

"So you still think I'm not good enough not to be constantly rejected."

"Steven King was rejected the first time he tried to get published Gem. It's not a question of whether you're good enough or not. It's all subjective to the person you audition for."

"Doug, I know all this. It's all stuff I found out about when I decided this is what I wanted to do with my life. There's nothing else for me. I have lots of time to go back to school if my bid to get a contract through open mic at the Cobalt fails. This is what I want."

"I see that now. I just want you to know that I never meant to hurt you. I always wanted to protect you from being hurt. I see now that it's not my place to do that. So I'm sorry, Gem. I'm so sorry that you heard those things I said to dad and I'm sorry I said them. I spent some time talking to Mia trying to find you and the last thing I would ever want is to leave you thinking 'thank God' if I disappeared. I hope some day you can forgive me and trust me that I mean it when I say I only want you to be happy and to never see you hurting. I guess I just see now that perhaps hurting is part of growing up and part of life. If we kept you from every hurt in life we'd basically keep you from living and that's not my intent at all."

Gem felt herself melt just a little when Doug revealed he'd taken the time to talk to Mia and really listen to her. That he wouldn't want her to be relieved if he was suddenly gone from her life. "Apology accepted Doug."

In an uncharacteristic gesture he held his arms out for a hug. Gem delivered it slightly hesitantly. She wasn't totally sure of Doug yet, but she was glad to have worked out some of their issues.

"And now there's just one more thing I have to do." Doug said, a look of worry filling his face.

"What's that?" Gem asked.

Doug made a motion with his head toward where Vince was working on a car with his back to them. Gem looked like she didn't know if Doug talking to Vince was a great idea but she decided not to interfere. She did follow behind Doug as he walked up behind Vince. She wanted to be available in case she was needed to play peacemaker.

Doug stopped a few feet off Vince's position. "Vince, might we talk for a moment." He opened. Vince stood up and turned around.

"Wha?" He asked, tone surly.

"I owe you an apology as well as my sister. I was out of line not only to dig into your past but to discuss it with others in public and without discussing it with you first. I'd like you to forgive me, but I understand that it might not be possible for you to do so." How stiff and formal Doug's speech was gave away easily how uncomfortable he was with the admissions he was making. "I want you to know that I was only acting in what I thought was my best efforts to keep my sister safe." Doug met Vince's eyes. He didn't see much hope of his apology being accepted. He continued anyhow. "I have only ever had my sister's best interests in mind. I see now that my actions in this regard have been out of line but in my own defence I thought I was doing what was best for her at the time.

"In any event, once again I do apologise for last night. For what I said and for the unfortunate fight outside afterward." With a nod Doug turned to leave the shop.

"I'd like to say you're forgiven because I know what it cost you to come in here and say those things," Vince said to Doug's retreating back. Doug paused in place. "I won't say you're forgiven because I ain't sure you ever will be, but as long as you and Gem worked your shit out I will let it go."

"I think we made a good start at working things out in any event." Doug answered.

"Well good. Drive safe on your way home."

The message he was dismissed couldn't have been made much clearer. With a wave for his sister Doug left the shop and turned the car toward home. It was time he put his efforts back into his studies and left his sister to lead her own life.

♫

Gem walked up behind Vince and stood at his side after Doug left the building. "Thank you."

"For what?" Vince asked, looking down at Gem.

"For deciding to at least be civil to him. I know you must still be pretty angry with him."

"In some ways I am. In some ways I got him back pretty good last night in the parking lot. Me'n Doug are never gonna be best friends. We're just too different. But I think at least for your sake we can put that aside when we're around each other."

"That's good to hear. I have some more forgiving to do before we're totally ok myself."

Gem said her good-byes not too long after and headed to the house. She decided to do Mia the good turn of cooking supper for them that evening. When Mia and Vince came home it was to the smell of roast chicken.

They all sat down and ate together after Vince had showered off the grime from the shop. Then Mia cleaned up as Gem went and got ready for work. Vince came down and spent some time at the Cobalt but he only had a few drinks before heading home. It made Gem glad to see him cutting back on his time there, even if she did miss him when he wasn't around. It still gave her a boost to be super sweetly nice to him on evenings when he was in a bad mood.

On Saturday night Vince didn't show up at all. Enough other people did that Gem was kept run off her feet all night long. The weather was horrible, pouring rain with thunder sounding off in the distance. She left the Cobalt and dashed through the slapping drops, grateful to finally sit down in her car. There was a larger crowd of people still around than usual, but she didn't pay them any mind. Her concentration was solely on her aching feet.

She did lock her doors once she was in the car but that was something she tried to remember to do every night anyway so that wasn't all that out of the ordinary. She started her car and watched as the man got into his own car; a nondescript black sedan. Gem put the Honda in drive and pulled out of her spot. As the shifter moved past reverse and neutral it made some clunking noises she'd never heard before but since it moved when she let off the brake she convinced herself it was simply the car showing it's age with a few audible complaints.

She started toward home, thinking only of changing into her PJs and going to bed. As she merged onto I-101 she pushed the car just a little faster, intent on getting off the freeway and getting home. The part of her trip that carried her along I-101 was always her favourite part of the trip because there were lots of other people around and other people on the road with her. It was when she merged off onto highway I-5 that her drive started to bug her. At least at night.

The I-5 carried her along the boarder of Griffith Park. The road was mostly deserted with the houses few and far between on one side of the road and the empty park on the other. At two am it wasn't the most frequently traveled road and it bothered her to be driving alone there sometimes. She tried to put it out of her mind and changed her radio to the next song on the CD, looking for something upbeat to keep her mind alert and off the fact she was bone tired in the middle of no where in a car that-thanks to Vince and his constant need to put it down-she didn't entirely trust.

She pushed the accelerator just a bit more, eager to get home and out of her sticky clothes and confining shoes. She just wanted to be home. This wanting made her less cautious of her delicate engine than she normally would have been.

As the car passed seventy miles an hour it started to feel strange. In her quest to get home Gem put it out of her mind. She knew it didn't always move with little jumps ahead where it had power and lulls in the middle where it did not.

"Just get me home car. That's all I ask. Tomorrow you can go into permanent retirement and Vince and I can take the money I have and go buy me something else on Monday. All I ask is that you don't die until we get home."

As though to tell her the indignity of being forced to go so fast when it was already on its last legs was more than it was willing to take, with a final shudder Gem's car gave up and it lost power. The engine was still running, she knew this as her tachometer showed it was idling slightly lower than normal but was in fact still on. But no matter how much gas she gave it all it would do is rev in place. She coasted off to the shoulder and cursed fate that the car would have to die in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm on Saturday night in the middle of no where.

She was about to get out of the car and start walking toward a distant house to try and call home when she remembered the prepaid cell phone that Vince had insisted she have to keep in the dash of her car in case of emergencies.

"I can't even be indignant that he clearly saw this coming right now," Gem mumbled to herself as she dug around for the phone.

As her fingers closed over it there was a knock on the window. She turned to look and saw a figure standing on the other side of the glass. "You ok?" The person called in a masculine voice.

"Fine."

"Pop the hood and I'll see what I can do." The man offered.

"No thank you. I'm about to call for help." Gem didn't wait for his reply. Something in the way he had kept his hood pulled up around his face didn't sit right with her. She started to dial home right away. It rang a few times before it was answered.

"Hello," A clearly sleepy Vince grumbled.

"V," Gem said, her voice starting to sound slightly panicked.

"Gem?" Vince asked, starting to sound more awake.

"Yes. My car broke down along I-5 on the way home. I'm about half way through Griffith Park. It just revs up really high and won't move, even though it's in gear."

"Ok, what if you put it into first or second instead of drive. Will it move then?" If it did it would fry her transmission but Vince figured the car was so close to dead at this point it hardly mattered if it got her home.

Gem tried what he said. The car simply repeated the same behaviour as it had in drive. "No, it still won't move. It just does the same thing."

"Ok, I'm coming for you now." Vince got up and started to pull on his pants, hopping on one foot as he tried to get his second leg in. Knowing Gem was alone in the dark on a stormy night made him feel something close to panic.

"Ok. I'll be here." She attempted to joke, more to make herself feel better than him. "Do you think you can find me?"

"It's the same route I take home too. I know just where you are."

As she was about to say ok there was a pounding on the window. She looked over in shock to find the same man there again.

"What was that?" Vince asked.

"There was this guy who offered to help me when the car first stopped but I said no. He's back now."

"Do you have the doors locked?"

"Yes but he's scaring me. He has his hood pulled up around his face and it's so dark here."

"Ok, hang tight. I'm gonna call you right back on my cell phone. I want you to pretend that you're still talking to me when I hang up. Don't let on that I let you go, ok?"

"Ok," Gem agreed and listened to the dial tone for a second after Vince had hung up on his end, her breath coming more rapidly. She tried to hit the end button to turn her phone off so Vince could call her back without the man knowing it.

"Come on, let me in and I'll give you a hand."

She looked up at him with the phone still pressed to her ear. "No thank you! My fiancé is on the way and he's a mechanic. If it can be fixed on the side of the road he'll take care of it." She gestured to the cell phone still glued to her other ear. She was very glad that she was only four miles away from Vince, being about half way down the I-5.

She cursed herself for taking the I-5 in the first place. Sure it was shorter but if she'd stayed on the I-134 and taken it until the CA-2 S instead of getting off on I-5 she would have stayed in highly populated areas the whole way, not been left stranded surrounded only by park land.

The man outside tried her door handle just as the phone rang again, signalling Vince calling her back. "You still ok?" He asked as soon as she answered.

"Yes but he just tried to get in the car."

"I'm already on the way, Glendale's about to become the highway. Is he still there?"

"Yes. I keep trying to tell him you're on the way honey, but I guess he doesn't believe me." Gem raised her voice, hoping the man outside her car would take the hint and go away if he truly believed her 'fiancé' was on the way.

"Let me in!" The muffled voice of Gem's visitor was loud enough that Vince heard it over the cellular line.

"I'm on the two now." Vince said in a deep growl, already looking forward to beating the face off the man who'd dared to threaten Gem. He pushed the accelerator harder and his car leapt forward with a growl just like its owner's. He knew that going one hundred miles an hour in the rain wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done but he couldn't leave Gem alone any longer than he had to. He barely held his car on the road going around a mild curve but he refused to slow down.

As Gem sat in her car pretending she wasn't afraid, that everything was fine she fought not to hyperventilate. The man outside slapped his flat hand against her side window with a loud thump and Gem jumped with a shriek.

"You ok?" Vince called again, wondering when his headlights would hit the grey Honda he was searching for in the dark.

"Yes, but he just hit the window like he's trying to get in." Gem said low. She then raised her voice. "Honestly sweetheart, are you almost here? I'm getting bored just sitting here."

The man disappeared from her window. Her relief was short lived. He was in the passenger window a second later, trying the door. Gem thought her heart might beat right out of her chest waiting for Vince to show up. She didn't even want to think of what would be happening to her right now if she didn't have Vince to call. Not to mention Vince to insist she have the phone in the car, no matter how much she'd rebelled against the idea of an electronic leash at the time.

"I should be there any second." Vince answered and fought his need to drop a gear and go even faster, knowing his car could easily reach upwards of one seventy but also knowing that he'd end up in the ditch if he tried to move any faster than he already was. He followed another slight curve in the road and finally his lights illuminated Gem's car and the man in black standing beside it.

Vince executed a 180 slide across the highway, ending up with his car parallel with Gem's and slightly behind. He could almost feel the car quivering with the ill use it had seen as he had driven it to fly through the rain in his need to find Gem. He left it running in neutral, setting the handbrake with an irate jerk as he threw the door open and flew out of the car toward the shadowy figure on the other side of the car.

♫

Gem's assailant had never once believed there was really a man on the way. Therefore, when the great, muscled man who'd left his room so fast he hadn't even bothered to put a shirt on sprang out of the blue, tricked out car and started across the highway with death in his walk shock held him to his place on the grass to the side of the disabled grey car.

Muscles rippled under the man's tattooed skin as he flexed his shoulders and back, adjusting the position of his arms. "I got something to say to you asshole!" he called. "You don't know who you're fuckin' with!"

Knowing that in the rage he was in the man would kill him, the would be criminal took off toward his own car.

♫

Vince watched the other man start to run away and with a cry of rage he took off after him. He didn't manage to catch him before he was in his car and tearing off down the highway. He didn't even manage to get a plate number before the black sedan was long gone. He returned to the side of Gem's car, trying to get his rage in check before retrieving her out of her car. He knew she'd be scared enough.

As soon as Gem saw the black car fishtail its way down the road she checked her mirror for Vince. Seeing him heading toward her door in the side view mirror she unlocked the door and got out on shaky legs, uncaring of the rain.

"You ok?" Vince asked gruffly as he walked up to Gem and stopped in front of her.

"I am now." She answered as she met his eyes. By an unspoken agreement he opened his arms and she threw herself into them. "I thought he was going to get in before you got here!" Gem said as she took a deep breath against Vince's chest to try and calm down.

"He didn't so just try not to think about it." Vince said softly as he rubbed a hand up and down Gem's back to try and calm her. She nodded her agreement to his statement. "Come on, let's lock this thing up and go home."

"What if something happens to it?"

"Gem it died! You need a new car and there isn't a thing you can say that will talk me into fixing this one. Look what almost happened!" Realizing he wasn't helping her with his anger Vince took a deep breath to attempt to calm down. "You'll need a new car anyway."

"But there's nothing wrong with the stereo and someone might steal it."

"We'll call a tow truck to take the damn car to the shop when we get home, ok?"

Gem surrendered. "I guess it'll be ok here with the doors locked until then."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. This road doesn't see a lot of traffic at this hour."

"Ok." As she went to pull away was when Gem realized Vince was only half dressed. "We need to go now. You shouldn't be out here in the rain with no shirt on."

"It's August Gem, it's not really that cold." Vince looked down at his own chest. He really hadn't thought of the hasty way he'd dressed until she'd pointed it out. Her hair was also plastered to her head, as was her tank top.

"I guess not." She answered, looking up at him. "We should go." She murmured.

"I guess we should." Vince answered but made no move to let go of her. With thoughts of what could have happened to her if he hadn't arrived in time to scare the man away from her car on his mind and Gem still held tightly to his chest Vince leaned down. She met him half way, needing the reassurance of his presence and his kiss as much as he needed to give them to her.

As their lips met Gem's arms moved from his waist to circle his neck as one of his hands moved to the small of her back and the other came up to cradle the back of her head. He nibbled at her lower lip gently before their mouths came together again. Everything faded to the background as each became lost in the other for a period in time.

They were brought out of their own world where only the two of them existed when a car went by in the outbound lane and honked at them as it sprayed water over them and Vince's idling Maxima. "Let's go home." Vince said gruffly before forcing Gem into the passenger seat of the Maxima and returning to her car to shut it off and lock it up. He got into the driver's seat of his own car and put it in gear after releasing the parking brake.

Vince broke the silence first. "Do we have to have the car towed tonight? The guy who drives the hook is a friend of mine and I'd rather not wake him up at three am on Saturday, but I will if it means that much to you."

"Can't we just call someone you don't know?"

"I'm still gonna have to go down to DT to pay the guy and unlock the shop."

"He could just tow it home."

"Then we'd just have to tow it to DT ourselves. It can't sit at home if it doesn't run."

"I guess it doesn't matter if it stays were it is for the night. But what if that guy comes back and breaks into it?"

"Then he gets a half decent stereo." Vince answered and it was clear he didn't think the Honda or its stereo was worth dragging any tow truck driver out of his bed in the rain over.

"I could sell that half decent stereo and use the money toward buying a better replacement car."

"Don't worry about it." Vince said in a no arguments tone. Gem decided in the interest of not getting a headache she'd let the topic go. The car could stay put for the rest of the night and they could get Vince's friend to tow it in the morning down to the shop.

Sensing his victory Vince relaxed slightly and hit the on button on the radio. Mellow music from a satellite jazz station filled the car softly. Gem leaned back into the seat and tried to relax. It wasn't easy. Her brush with trouble had left her more shaken than she'd let on to Vince. It was still hard not to dwell on it. Despite what Vince had said about not thinking on it she couldn't help herself. Her mind kept playing out various scenarios of what could have happened.

They pulled into the driveway and Vince killed the engine, grateful to see the lights were all still off. He hadn't woken Mia up on his way out of the house or with his wild flight down their street. He got out and waited for Gem to meet up with him in front of the car before clicking the doors locked and the security system on and leading Gem into the house.

As Vince locked the front door Gem finally kicked her shoes off with a grateful sigh and started into the living room.

"You should go get some rest." Vince said softly as he trailed her.

"I don't think I could sleep yet." Gem answered honestly and started toward the couch. She really wasn't sure if she was going to be able to sleep at all. At least, not tonight. She thought it might take her a few days to get over her scare. She didn't know how she was going to manage to come home from work that way ever again. She'd have an extra twenty minutes of driving to go the long way around.

"At the very least you should go change out of your wet things before you catch a chill."

And there was the solution to her problems right there, Gem mused. "I guess I should." She started toward Vince. He figured it was just because he was standing in the doorway to the hall up to the stairs. That theory was dashed when she stopped right in front of him. "Want to help me with that?"

Vince licked his suddenly dry lips, not believing he'd heard correctly. "What?"

"Well, you know how stiff denim gets to unbutton in when it's wet." Gem looked up at Vince, trying to look sexy and seductive. She didn't have much experience at it so she had no idea if she was succeeding or not. "I might not be able to manage on my own. For that matter, you might need some help in that department yourself." She toyed with the top button of his jeans.

"You sure about this?" Vince asked as he lay a hand flat on her stomach, needing to touch her somehow but not sure just how to give into the impulse. She nodded yes and gave in to her own impulse to lick his pec over the colourful tattoo emblazoned there. With a growl he moved in and kissed her again, hard. She responded in kind, wanting the whole experience just as badly as he did. It had been a long time coming when there were so many sparks between them.

Vince knew that part of the reason she was forcing the pace of what had been their inevitable joining was because she needed the reassurance she was ok. It likely had something to do with not wanting to be alone and seeing sleeping with him as a good excuse not to be. But there was more to it than that and they both knew it. They'd been building up to some sort of apex for weeks now and her near tragedy on the highway was just the catalyst to speed the reaction. It would have gone to completion at some point either way. It was inevitable.

Decision made with no going back he bent his knees enough to allow him to lock his arms together under her butt and pick her up. She gasped in shock before giving way to giggles. He chuckled back at her before moving through the house turning off lights as he went before going down the stairs and going into his room. He threw her back onto his bed where she bounced a few times before coming to rest on back, propped up on her elbows in the centre of the bed. Her hair had dried out in tousled waves around her face and shoulders and it framed her face in ways that made it almost hard to breath for Vince.

"You just going to stand there all night and stare?" Gem asked, smirking slightly at the look on his face.

"Oh hell no." Vince answered before crawling over her. "I got other plans." He leaned down and nipped at Gem's collar bone playfully with a growl.

♫

Gem woke up the next day alone in Vince's bed. She blushed at the thoughts that flooded back to her. Some of the things she dared to do with Vince made her blush and she couldn't help it. She could only surmise that with the right guy she became totally fearless in the bedroom. She glanced at the alarm clock on Vince's night stand and found the time to be lunch time. She got out of bed with a groan and pulled on one of Vince's oversized undershirts and a pair of his shorts before wandering up the stairs, pushing her wild hair out of her face.

"Morning!" Mia chirped as she looked up from her book, which she was reading at the kitchen table. She had what could only be described as a shit eating grin on her face. "How was your night?" Mia quickly shook her head after she asked her question. "Scratch that, I don't really want to know." She turned back to her book. "You want some breakfast? Or lunch, at this rate."

"No thanks. I'll just have some cereal and juice." Gem got her breakfast together and joined Mia at the table. "Where is Vince?" She asked and promptly turned bright red.

"He had to get your car and then he had some stuff to do at the shop. He told me to take you down there when you got up and got ready to go."

"Oh, ok." Gem was glad to hear she was expected, that Vince wasn't running away from her and some perceived commitment to her. She finished up her food and headed upstairs to change and take a shower. She landed back downstairs half and hour later with her hair washed and dried and a pair of her own shorts on with a tank top. It looked hot out. She found Mia right where she left her, sitting in the kitchen. "Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

They got into Mia's Acura and headed for DT.

"What am I going to do about a car?" Gem asked Mia. "I don't really have enough money saved up to get a nice one yet."

"It'll be fine. Don't worry so much." Mia answered and pulling into a parking spot at the shop. Both girls got out of the car and headed into the open bay door around the back. No one was in sight. "Vince?" Mia called out. "Cory?"

"One second." Vince's voice hollered back from the very back part of the shop area. He came around the corner a moment later. "Mornin'" He said as he walked straight up to Gem. Mia, ever sensitive to the moods of those around her made herself scarce as she wandered back the way Vince had come from, looking for Cory.

"Hey." Gem answered back, unable to help the light pink blush that tinged her cheeks.

"I'm sorry I pulled a disappearing act but I had something to do here and I didn't want to wake you when you looked so happy."

"It's ok, I needed the sleep."

Vince nodded his agreement before delivering the good morning kiss he would have rather given Gem while they were still hiding from the world in the constant night of his basement room. When they pulled apart Gem took a moment to collect her thoughts.

"Did my car arrive?"

"Yeah, safe and sound as it can be considered right now."

"I'm glad to hear it. I still don't know what I'm going to do for a car though."

"About that." Vince rubbed the back of his neck agitatedly. "I don't want you to get mad at me for this but," Vince trailed off, unable to think how to say what he wanted to say.

"Mad at you for what?" Gem asked.

"I better just show you." Vince sighed and took her hand. He led her in the direction that Mia had disappeared. Before they rounded the corner he stopped her and turned to look at her again. "Close your eyes."

"That bad huh?"

"Not really, just humour me."

She complied, against her better judgment. The way Vince was carrying on was making her nervous. He led her slowly farther back into the shop before stopping her and moving her into a position he was happy with.

"Ok, you can open your eyes now." Vince said. Gem complied.

Mia and Cory shouted surprise from behind a car finished the exact same shade of Caribbean blue as her bass.

"What the heck is that?" Gem asked, a hand to her throat.

"Your new car." Vince said.

He clearly wasn't excited about giving the car to her. She knew it was because he was already anticipating the scene she was going to make about the high handed nature of him picking out and buying her new car without her input. In truth she was a bit shocked that he'd gone to all the trouble even after what a grump she'd been over the whole car situation. "My new car?"

"Yeah, I picked it up a few weeks ago when I started to realize the transmission in the Honda wasn't going to last long enough for you to save up the money you wanted to save before you were going to give in and replace it."

"What is it?" Gem asked in shock. No one had ever gone through the trouble of personalizing a gift for her to the extent Vince had personalized the car in front of her. It was the same color as her bass, which happened to be both her favourite possession and her favourite colour. The car had been fitted with decals. A grand staff trailed down each side, the treble scale over the bass, just like it should be. There were various sixteenth, eight, quarter and whole notes filling the staff and there was a graphic of a bass guitar across the hood.

"It's a Toyota Camry Solara." Vince answered.

Gem farther took in the tinted windows, power sunroof and huge chrome rims on the car. "I thought we decided on basic and functional." The Solara was nothing close to basic. She was willing to bet that it functioned quite well.

"I couldn't say no to this one. It just reminded me of you some how when I saw it on the lot." It was a pretty car with clean lines and smooth features. It was also solid and dependable but hiding a young and fun spirit underneath the surface. When Vince had seen the Solara he'd known it was the car for Gem. "I couldn't say no to the price either. It's the one I was rebuilding when you saw me so dirty. The engine in the thing blew up on the guy who leased it originally but it's all fixed up now."

Vince kept the part about the supercharger, cold air intake and various other performance upgrades he'd added purely for his own benefit because he loved to build a tricked out car to himself.

"It's really for me?" Gem questioned.

She didn't seem mad, which was a start. "Yeah." He answered.

"But it must have cost you so much, especially when you consider the paint and the wheels."

"You'd be surprised whose still willing to just give me parts for the sake of having their name on a car with the DT logo on it." Vince grinned. Finding that out had been like salve to his abused ego. Some people still thought, and rightly so, that he could build a car without Dominic to hold his hand.

Gem looked right into Vince's eyes, and like she saw what it was worth to him that she take his gift and simply be grateful to have it and enjoy driving it she decided not to voice her protests that she could have bought and picked her own new car and that she didn't need one as tricked out as his and Mia's. "Thank you." She said.

"You're welcome." He said gruffly. "Wanna take it for a spin?"

"Yes." Gem admitted giddily.

Vince pulled it out of the shop before moving to the passenger seat and allowing Gem to take the wheel. She fixed the seat to suit her and adjusted the mirrors. She took a moment to enjoy the leather seats and power sunroof before looking down to slid the car into gear. She was confronted by a five speed manual transmission.

"That's how it came. I hope you don't mind always driving a standard."

"I'll adjust. I was getting pretty use to yours."

"Yeah, you got good with a stick pretty fast."

"Thanks, I think." If Gem wasn't mistaken it was now Vince's turn to blush.

"No problem. Let's head out and open her up."

They took the car out along the beach cliff road and Vince egged Gem on to be more daring with the car than she ever would have dreamed before. It was so responsive and fun to drive she almost didn't know what to do with herself.

They got home late. Mia was already asleep when they arrived home. After their drive they'd gone out for supper and to see a movie. Gem went to start up the stairs after she removed her shoes.

"Where you goin'?" Vince asked.

"To bed. It's after one."

"I know that, but are you sure you wanna go to bed up there?"

Gem cocked her head to the side and looked at Vince, faking confusion. "Where else would I want to go to bed?"

Rather than answer her question Vince threw her over his shoulder with a growl and carried her down to his room.

♫

Gem got her first chance to think about writing a song for the week when she woke up the next day with the house to herself. She tossed her headphones on and headed out into the backyard in her bathing suit.

Once she'd started to tan she hadn't been able to give it up. She liked the things it did for her eyes and she especially liked the way her hair had been lightened from nondescript dirty blonde to a shimmering, sunny golden blonde. She sat down in the lounge chair that was a constant fixture of the backyard these days and started to muse about the events of the last few days.

Several things stood out in her mind. Themes of being alone, lonely and striking out on your own kept standing out in her mind. She jotted down ideas and random lines that occurred to her that she thought might work. Other ideas wormed their way in, like finding a person as alone as you were to share it all with. By the time Mia got home from the café she had enough down that a song was starting to take shape.

On Tuesday she headed down to the Cobalt in her new car. She was almost giddy with the need to show off her new car to her friends, and tell them how she got it. She showed up early so that Barry and Barbara would have time to come out and see her car before it got busy.

After they ooo'ed and ahhhed over it for a while they all went back into the club. Barry and Barbara disappeared together into the back room as Gem went to wipe down the tables.

"I'm going to say it even though I know I shouldn't."

"Say what?" Barry asked as he looked up from his paperwork.

"I told you so." Barbara grinned.

"About what?" Barry asked in confusion.

"I told you that he was going to be good for her but you said she had no business getting involved with him. If he didn't really care about her would he buy her such a nice car just so he wouldn't have to think of her out there driving around in something that might leave her stranded?"

"Ok, you were right. It's not very nice to rub it in." Barry said as he turned back to his paperwork.

"You're right, it's not. It's just nice to be right." Barbara went to help Gem, leaving the office chuckling.

♫

On Wednesday night Gem locked herself in the music room. Vince went looking for her and when he couldn't find her he thought to try and open the door. It was locked from inside.

Sometimes Gem did that. It bothered him but he didn't think there was anything he could say. When she got in a really bent on writing mood there was no sense being around her. She couldn't concentrate on anything else until she was done anyway. He knew she was in the room with her headphones on because she didn't open the door to yell at him for trying the knob. That could only mean she hadn't heard him so she didn't know she had something to be angry about.

He waited for her to immerge for a while in the living room watching TV but gave up at one am. He knew that she might never come out or she might just head straight to her own room when she finally finished.

She woke him up briefly when she crawled into his bed at two am. "You get it finished?" He asked sleepily.

"Yes, finally." Gem said with a sigh he felt against the side of his neck.

"Good." He kissed her forehead in the dark. "Get some sleep."

"You're the one who has to be up at eight. Sorry I woke you up. I should have just stayed upstairs."

"I'd rather wake up for a few and have you here." It wasn't easy for him to say things like this, but he thought she needed to hear them. He was glad he'd made the effort when he felt her smile against his chest.

"Night," she answered with a yawn.

♫

Gem, Tamica and Elliott were alone in the green room on Thursday night waiting for Vince to show up.

"Will he be here?" Tamica asked as she checked the clock.

"Yes." Gem reassured.

"So, you and Corona guy." Elliott mused with a grin.

"Shut up." Gem answered back, teasing. She was getting use to taking some good natured abuse about her relationship with Vince and how long it had taken to come about. It seemed everyone had seen it coming but her.

He showed up at ten minutes til eight. Gem walked up to him and looked up into his eyes. "Everything ok?"

"Fine. Mia had a bit of an upset. She found this silver cross that Dom use to wear all the time. He musta lost it in the shed when he took the charger out that last day and she went in there looking for something this evening and found it. It was her dads before Dom had it and she was just having a down day. I brought her with me, she's ok now."

"It'll be good for her to get back into school and get past this whole time."

"Yeah."

"I'm glad you learned your music already then." Gem smirked. It only took Vince a few minutes to learn his music so it was more a gentle poke at him than a real feeling of relief.

"Ha ha." Vince retorted as he picked his guitar up out of the case just as Nalia called them to the stage.

She introduced them as they set up their instruments. Gem didn't bother to say anything herself, knowing most of the crowd knew very well who they were.

The song started with some sound effects they'd programmed into Tamica's keyboard, some plucked guitar notes and simple drum beat.

"_Black and blue I chose my wave. I, the candid castaway. In a way delayed, by one more broken season to find reason for appeasing you. And so I found my guiding light. Lambent, flashing, red and white. Through a starry night. I'm better nowhere bound than drowning on your solid ground."_

Of course, black and blue was a metaphor for her mental state after her fight with her brother last Thursday, not a literal thing. As was the imagery of being delayed again in her own wants by another reason to appease someone else.

Vince wasn't sure he knew what her guiding light was, but he was willing to bet that being better nowhere bound than drowning on 'your' solid ground also spoke of how she was better off not knowing where she belonged than stifled on her family's solid and loving but oppressive and limiting safe home.

"_Satellite, save my life. I'm wishing on a two-way radio, love might be just like me. Jaded, waiting all alone. A whisper on a two-way radio."_

"_All in all I fare the same, wishing on an aeroplane as calling stars by name. A lonely song of freedom rings in hope of someone listening. And so I send my feeble flare, through the silent, arctic air. Heading anywhere. Until at last I've finally found a place to lay my anchor down."_

_  
_♫

Freedom was lonely but it had to be achieved. But once you had it, it didn't need to be lonely anymore. You could find someone else also looking for freedom who was willing to simply share it with you. So you sent out your show of independence, even if by times it was feeble and the air seemed frozen and the silence of your situation made it seem as though you were alone at the end of the earth.

Mia found herself relating to yet another one of Gem's songs, even though she was totally certain this one was only about Gem and her take on her situation. After all, where else could a place to finally lay my anchor down be if not with them, with Vince?

"_Satellite, save my life! I'm wishing on a two-way radio. Love might be just like me. Jaded, waiting all alone. You never know. Never. Never._

_"Heaven help me! I'm drowning and I can't save me. Send some salvation to keep me alive._

_Satellite, save my life. I'm wishing on a two-way radio. Love might be just like me. Jaded, waiting all alone. A whisper on a two-way radio."_

Sometimes you couldn't save yourself, you had to find salvation in someone else. Mia was just happy that for two of her best friends, they seemed to have found it with each other.


	8. Forever Love Digame

AN: Sorry for the wait. Standard disclaimer applies. I don't own The Fast and the Furious or Anna Nalick's music. I do own anyone and anything that you don't recognize from real life and this storyline. Reviews are appreciated. If there is anything that needs attention be sure to let me know. The chapter feels a little off to me but I've spent days trying to make it work better and this is the best I can get it. Hope you enjoy. Always, Tempest. By the way, this - ♫ is a music note if you browse in Firefox or Mozilla. It's a whole lot of nothing in Internet Explorer. Just don't want anyone to think I'm using a square for a divider.

**Catalyst**

By _TempestRaces_

Chapter 8 – **Forever Love** (Digame)

_A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for_ –**William Shedd.**

"Night guys! See you later." Gem called from the door of the Cobalt as she waved good-bye to Vince and Mia shortly after nine. Vince was taking Mia home and then staying there. It still came as a shock every night he chose to do something other than sit around the bar and drink. He truly seemed to have turned himself around.

Gem knew no matter what personal motivations were behind Vince's exodus from the Cobalt, he also hadn't wanted to send Mia home alone any more than Gem had. They both knew that someone had to stay with her and since Gem had to work it only left Vince to nominate. There would come a day when Mia didn't have bad times where she couldn't be left alone. Gem was going to see to it herself that out of somewhere her friend found the strength to be there for herself. It was nice to have friends to depend on and to know you could turn to them if you had to. But it was far better for the most part to be able to turn inside for solace. Be it through meditation or gardening or song writing or even volunteer work, everyone needed something they could do to help them cope solo. Not to say that sometimes you didn't need a strong shoulder to cry on because you did. But there had to be some sort of internal coping mechanism too and Mia had lost hers. If she'd ever had one.

Gem got back to work after they left. At some point later in the night she realized how late in August it was. The dates set for both Mia to return to school and for her brother to be shipped off to Nevada were approaching swiftly. Mia was due back in class on Monday where as her brother was due to ship out to Nevada the following weekend.

After the last person left the bar Gem walked up to Barry. "I was wondering," She started.

"What is it sweetheart?" Barry asked as he looked up from counting his till.

"My brother ships out the first week in September. Not to mention all of us could use a break from things at home. Do you think I could have this weekend off? I was thinking I'd go home to 'Frisco for a visit and take Mia and Vince with me. Mia could use the change of scenery and I'd like the chance to say bye to Nick in person before they station him to Nevada."

"Yeah, you go ahead. I'll get my niece in to cover tomorrow and Saturday. She's looking to make some extra money."

"That's perfect! Thanks Barry." Gem called over her shoulder as she headed out the door of the bar and heard Barbara lock up behind her. Five whole days with no work. Gem figured she'd spring the trip on Mia and Vince tomorrow afternoon and they could put up a sign in the café that it wouldn't be open on Saturday morning. Vince could tell Cory and Bill they were flying solo Saturday morning in the shop and they could drive out Friday night.

Her mom and dad could meet Mia and Vince, she could say a proper good-bye to her brother and check up on Cindy in the process. She could show off her new car. She didn't know how well it was going to go over with her dad that Vince had bought it for her but she refused to hide the gift from the world with a story about how she bought it on payments or was paying Vince back. She hadn't and wasn't and she wasn't about to lie about it just to make other people feel more comfortable with her having it. She knew that those lies would also make her life easier because she wouldn't have to deal with the scepticism over what the car was in payment for and wouldn't have to deal with the snide looks and rude comments. But she was going to have to deal with it all honestly and she knew it. She wouldn't take a single thing away from Vince and his wonderful gift by acting ashamed of him or the car he'd so painstakingly designed and built for her.

He had bought her the car before they had begun sleeping together so it precluded any theories about that being why he had bought the Solara for her anyway. Maybe it would hurt and maybe she would care, no matter how she ensured it looked to the outside world, but if people wanted to think the car was some sort of offering from Vince only because they were sleeping together they were free to think that way. She knew the truth, and in this case that _was_ all that mattered. No matter how she would feel about people talking about her behind her back.

She started the Solara and pulled out of the lot, the doors automatically locking as soon as she reached five miles an hour. The drive home seemed so much shorter in the Toyota. She always had to watch to make sure she didn't speed. Well, didn't speed too much, she thought with a grin. I was hard to ignore just what the Solara was ultimately good at and that was going fast. So sometimes, and just sometimes, she went fast. Just to keep the car happy, she told herself playfully. Not for herself at all.

If Vince had really wanted to hide what he'd done to the engine from her he shouldn't have taught her about the noises that superchargers made when they blew off. She couldn't help but notice that her car made those same noises. So much for functional and basic. Her new car could head down to Vince's street races and blend right in, both in looks _and_ performance.

That wasn't to say she drove it like her commute was a race. She didn't. Cars like the Honda had instilled automotive cautiousness into her too deeply for that. But she did take the short way home again, feeling safe in the comfortable interior of her Solara. She knew Vince was too good at what he did for there to be any chance of this car letting her down. She also knew how upset he'd been the last time, when the Honda had quit. He'd never risk putting himself through that sort of thing again. He didn't like to feel that strongly about anything and Gem understood where he was coming from. Sitting alone in the rain hoping he made it to her before the dark man made it in was something she never wanted to live through again.

She pulled up to the house and parked the car in the driveway before getting out and clicking the security system on. After she let herself into the house she went upstairs and got ready for bed. She stood beside her own bed, her lower lip caught between her teeth in indecision. Should she stay put or should she head down to Vince's room? He never seemed upset when she woke him up at two am crawling into his bed. Sometimes he seemed happier about it than others, Gem admitted to herself with a blush.

Decision made she turned out her light and headed down the stairs. She padded through the kitchen and down the next set of stairs with a sigh. She hoped she wasn't being a pain in the butt, hoped he wasn't secretly wishing she'd just stay in her own room and leave him alone to sleep. For some reason she wasn't looking forward to sleeping alone. Sometimes how happy it made her to simply curl up under the same blankets as Vince whether they were touching or not scared her. It wasn't like her to allow herself to depend on another human being so much.

The time when she could manage to convince herself she could take or leave him was gone. In the relatively short time they had known each other she'd come to depend on him; like it or not.

What really scared her about the whole thing was that he was almost becoming part of her music, intertwined in it. She was willing to have her whole life and her whole being depend on him, barring that. Caring how he liked his eggs cooked and what kind of sandwiches he liked was one thing. She'd accept the fact that she cared what he smelled like and missed the scent if it wasn't present when she fell asleep. She could deal with the fact that she found the way the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled was one of the sexiest things she'd ever seen. She could even deal with the fact she was coming to consider _clean_ tank tops and jeans dressy attire on him.

Her music was something that she was only supposed to need herself for. She didn't want to know what would happen to her and who she fundamentally was if she ever let herself change to the point where she needed another person to have music be part of her life. Not just writing it, because that was something she had never been good at until Vince anyway. If she suddenly couldn't do that anymore she would have to say things were just back to normal. But her desire to play and practise was becoming tied up with Vince and their moods. It was becoming tied up in the tenor of their relationship.

And that, that she didn't like.

When had she stopped writing for the guitar and started writing for Vince? That was the scariest of all. She knew in the back of her mind that Vince wasn't going to be part of her musical life forever. That eventually he would get bored with the whole thing, the whole performer situation and would move on. Oh, she knew he would still support her and her music, would likely still come see her play and would likely even occasionally play on stage with her in small venues like the Cobalt. But he wasn't going to go on the road with her, make albums with her and travel the world over with her. That was what she wanted for herself, for her music. Vince didn't want music for his life. He wanted it for a hobby. He had more or less told her that already, if not with words then simply with his attitude.

The fact remained that of late she had been writing the guitar music for her songs for Vince. To challenge Vince's skills as a guitarist. To write things for him to play she thought he would find interesting. What would happen if she had to go from writing the guitar for Vince to writing the guitar for some strange guitarist she had only just met? Someone who was just a member of her band and wasn't her friend. Elliott and Tamica were friends. Vince was even more. When the time came to introduce a stranger to the mix and to say goodbye to Vince, how would her writing be affected? It was a question only time could answer for her.

As was the question of what she would do, what they would do if she did get a contract with a record label and had to go on tour promoting her album. She had made a promise to Mia to make sure the café did not become the Italian woman's problem when classes were in and she intended to keep her promise. If she couldn't keep filling the shifts Mia couldn't work then she would find someone who could and make sure that person got paid. Mia's education was too important to side track again. Mia needed stability and only a good education to lead to a good job would offer her that in the long run. Gem didn't want Mia to ever be so dependant on the people around her again as she had been when her brother had run off.

It prayed on Gem's mind, when she let it, what would happen if Dominic came back into their lives after so much time. What would happen to Vince, who was just starting to come into his own as the manager of the garage? Would Dom expect to just pick right back up where he left off, pushing Vince to the background again? Would Vince be happy to let him after all that had changed, or would he fight for his right to continue doing what he'd been forced to do for the last year? How much did his new life honestly mean to Vince and how much did he truly want to go back to the life where all he had to do was sit back and do what he was told?

With a yawn she couldn't suppress, Gem decided her thoughts were far too deep for almost two thirty in the morning. She stopped pacing around the small sitting room in the basement and pushed into Vince's room quietly before slipping into the bed softly and curling up on her side, pulling the pillow there more firmly under her head and tucking the blankets securely under her chin. Vince never stopped snoring. She figured with a final yawn he must be getting used to her presence if the dipping of the bed under her weight hadn't managed to wake him. She drifted off into a deep sleep, her worries forgotten for the time.

♫

Gem woke up alone at ten the next morning. She sat up and stretched with a yawn before wandering upstairs and sitting down at the kitchen table with a glass of orange juice and a bowl of cereal. She couldn't decide if it was fair to just land on her mother with two extra guests in tow or if she should call ahead and reveal her plans.

She wanted her visit to be a secret from Nick, and she wasn't willing to have Doug show up and ruin everything either. While Nick still lived at home with their parents, Doug kept his own place closer to school. He attended classes at the University of San Francisco's law school and worked for a law office as well. The odds were good he would hardly be around, if at all. Unless he caught wind of her visit. She didn't want to confront him about her situation yet.

Gem knew he was going to find out about the car sooner or later. She just wanted it to be later. She decided it wouldn't be fair to spring Mia and Vince on her mother at the last minute and got up to pick up the phone. She didn't even bother calling home, knowing both her mother and father had been at the restaurant since nine am. If they had managed to stay home even that long. She died the number for her parent's business and listened to it ring.

The girl they'd hired to fill 'her' position as hostess answered on the second ring. "Acquerello, Claire speaking."

"May I speak to Suzette please?" Gem asked for her mother without identifying herself to the hostess. Claire reminded her a little too closely of Celeste, and she didn't feel like pandering to the elitist woman's games at-what was to her at least-this early hour of the morning.

"May I ask whose calling?" Claire asked in a slightly haute tone of voice.

"Gem." She answered Claire's question succinctly, her tone slightly perturbed.

"I'll see if Ms. Suzette is available." The phone was placed on hold.

Gem sat waiting on the line, listening to La Mia Serenata, Jimmy Fontana crooning in melodious Italian as she waited for her mother to pick up the extension in her kitchen. It was instead her father who finally broke into the Italian ballad filling the silence of the wait. "Hello, Giancarlo speaking." He said in a faintly accented voice. While he'd been living in the States since he was sixteen years old, Gem's father had never totally lost the accent he'd obtained growing up in his native Bologna.

"Hello papa." Gem answered her father's greeting. "What are you doing answering the phone in the kitchen?"

"Your mother has gone out to buy some cheese. She wasn't happy with the stuff we got last time and decided to go and pick out her own this time."

It sounded like her mother, Gem thought with a smile. She echoed this thought to her father before asking, "what are your plans this weekend dad?"

"We haven't got any. Same as every weekend Gem, you know that. Closed on Sunday, same as always. We're having a family dinner at home because Nick's deployment was moved up. He leaves this Tuesday."

"That's sort of what I'm calling about papa. I was wondering if I could come and visit this weekend. I'd like to see Nick before he moves and check on Cindy. Plus it's been so long since I've seen you and mama."

"Of course you can come visit Gemmalynn. You can come home any time you like."

"I was hoping to bring some friends with me this time dad. I'd like to take Mia and Vince with me. They're the people I live with and they could both use the break. Plus I think you should meet them. We've all become such good friends."

"Sure you can bring your friends Gem. With Doug out of the house we'll have lots of room. Mia can share your room and Vince can have Doug's old room."

It went without saying that her old fashioned, catholic parents were not going to entertain thoughts of her and Vince sharing a room. "That sounds perfect dad. I'm going to go break the news to them that we're going and we'll head up tonight after Vince shuts down the garage. How's that?"

"When will you get to the city?"

"About eight I hope. Perhaps nine. Why?"

"Just come straight to Acquerello. Your mother and I will feed you supper before we all head home."

"Only if you and mom will stop for half and hour and join us." Gem thought her parents both worked far too hard but telling them to slow down would only earn her a reminder that if she was willing to take over for them then they could start to slow down once she knew what she was about around a wine list and in the kitchen.

"We'll see Gem. I've heard a lot about these two people you've met from your brothers and I can't wait to meet them myself."

"You better be nice Papa. To Mia and Vince both."

"I am always nice to your friends Gem."

"Yeah, right." Gem retorted, thinking of the treatment some of her earlier boyfriends had received from her brothers and father both. "I'll see you tonight dad."

"Drive carefully Gem."

"Yes father." Gem answered and hung up. She ran upstairs, got dressed and headed out to her car. She took the drive down to the café and sat down at the lunch bar without making a sound. Mia was sitting with her back to the room reading a text book. Her hair fell around her shoulders, creating a shield that obliterated her peripheral vision and kept her from seeing Gem walk in and sit down. "What do I have to do to get a sandwich around here?" Gem asked and watched as Mia jumped.

"Oh-my-god!" Mia said in a rush. "You startled me."

"You're not watching the counter." Gem chided playfully.

"I'm too busy trying to catch up on some of this reading." Mia said with a pinched face.

"You didn't start back yet. How could you have reading already?"

"I'm trying to recover what I did the year before last. It's been a whole year since I saw the inside of a classroom or had to study, let alone since I thought about any of those other classes I took."

"You need a break."

"I'll take one while I make you some lunch. What do you want?"

"Ham and Swiss on white." Gem answered and Mia started to make the sandwich. "Mia?"

"Um?" Mia muttered as she continued to make Gem's lunch for her.

"I'm going home to San Francisco for the weekend. You want to come with me?"

"Really?" Mia was visibly excited by the thought. She revealed why after Gem nodded to the affirmative. "I've never been outside of Los Angeles. I'd love to get to see San Francisco."

"Good. I already called my folks and they don't mind if we stay with them for the weekend. Its Nick's last weekend at home. He leaves for Nevada on Tuesday. I thought it would be nice for you to get away for awhile before school starts as well."

"What about Vince?" Mia asked. The thought that Vince might not be invited made her frown.

"I thought we'd ask him to come too. I know he might not want to because of meeting my folks and the fact he doesn't care for Doug very much, but I hope he comes too anyway."

"Go ask him after you eat. I'll give you some lunch for the boys since you'll be going anyway."

"Ok."

Gem finished her lunch, took the bag of food from Mia and repeated her trek to the garage. More and more often Mia would send Gem down to DT with a bag of food for 'the boys'. Gem parked her car behind the garage and walked in, setting her bags down on the bench and walked up behind Vince, who was bent over in the open engine bay of a purple car. She poked him in the back.

He jumped in shock and hit his head on the hood. "Fuck!" he bellowed as he spun around. He saw Gem behind him with a hand over her mouth to disguise her laughter. It didn't do anything to hide it from her laughing eyes.

"Hey." Gem got out once she thought she could keep it together. When she met Vince's eyes and read his intentions there she tried to back up and run away but he was faster. Before she could comprehend what had happened she was being tickled while held in an iron grip she couldn't get away from. "I'm sorry!" She gasped out, out of breath.

"You better be." Vince growled back before setting her down and changing his hold on her, leaning down to kiss her.

Before Gem knew it the cat calls of Cory and Bill were bringing her back to earth.

"You two have the room for that shit at home I assume." Cory said. He was smiling when he said it, which lead Vince to let him live.

Gem blushed. "I brought lunch."

"Ok, you're forgiven then. Suck face all you want if you keep on bringing me Mia's cooking." Cory started pawing though the food. "Is Mia looking for a slave boy? All she'd have to do is feed me and I'd do anything she wanted." Cory paused to let that sink in. "Anything." He reiterated with a wag of his eyebrows up and down.

Gem blushed deeper and even Bill chuckled. Vince took a menacing step Cory's way. "She ain't lookin' for nothin' so eat your damn sandwich."

"Simmer down now C. She can't be alone and lonely with no one to cook for forever. She needs someone to be that person."

Vince took another step Cory's way with a growl.

"Oh sit down and eat." Gem addressed Vince. "He's just pulling your chain and you're playing along, giving him exactly what he's looking for."

Vince sat on the couch with his sandwich and started to eat. Cory went to open his mouth again.

Gem instinctually knew it was to make a smart ass comment about Vince doing what he was told by a girl. She also knew it was the kind of comment that Vince would not easily be convinced to let slide. She shook her head almost imperceiveably Cory's way. The youth took the hint and shovelled food into his mouth instead of opening it to sass.

"Where's yours?" Vince asked Gem as he watched her hover around instead of eat.

"I ate with Mia." She answered before sitting down beside him on the couch. She watched and waited as Cory and Bill finished eating and went back to work. "So," She started, suddenly nervous as to what Vince's reaction to her asking him to go with her to her parents was going to be.

"What is it?" Vince asked, sensing there was something up.

"I was wondering how you'd like to take off early today and come on a little road trip with me?"

Vince narrowed his eyes in suspicious thought. "Road trip?"

"Yeah. I'm going to San Francisco for the weekend to visit home and I thought you and Mia might like to come. Mia's cool with it and wants to go. How 'bout you?"

"You want me to go with you to your parents?" Vince asked. It was fairly clear from his stiff posture and unhappy expression that he wasn't thrilled with the idea.

"Yes I want you to go with me to my parents. My brother leaves on Tuesday for Nevada and I haven't seen my mom and dad since I moved down here like four months ago. Mia starts school on Monday and it will be a nice break for her before she starts. She's already stressing about studying and she hasn't even been to one class yet."

"What about the fact that your brother and I can hardly stand each other?"

"Doug has his own place close to campus. He won't be around much, if at all. I imagine that once he knows you're coming with me he won't even come around the house. He might make an appearance but that's because my mother would find it awfully strange if he didn't come see me at all."

"You sure you want me to go with you? You could just take Mia."

Gem ignored the implication that her parents shouldn't meet him due to her potential embarrassment and saw through it to the real concern below; that they would find him wanting. "You're going to have to meet them sometime V. Might as well be now."

Vince sighed. "I suppose you're right. When you leavin'?"

"I'd like to make 'Frisco by nine so we should leave by five."

"Ok. I'll leave here at three thirty, after I give the boys their instructions for the rest of today and tomorrow."

"Ok, I'll see you at home later then."

Vince nodded and Gem left, heading home to pack and wait on Mia and Vince to come home. Mia came home earlier than Gem had even anticipated.

"I didn't expect to see you for another hour." She said as Mia bounced through the door of her room.

"I got too excited and I had to leave earlier. I need to pack."

"We're only going two days Mi, don't go too crazy with the luggage. We'll eat with the folks at their place tonight, likely again tomorrow night and we'll head for home before supper on Sunday. At the most we might go out with Cindy to some club that she likes. It's not going to be the social event of the century."

"No, maybe not. But it will be a chance for me to see a different city. And just eating food I didn't cook in a restaurant that I don't have to clean at the end of the day will be a treat."

"I bet." Gem answered, grinning at Mia.

"So, what kind of restaurant is your folks place?"

"Just a little Italian place. Like I told you. Small, only seats about fifty people. My mom's the chef and my dad's the sommelier and Matri'd. They have some wait staff, most of them have been around forever, and a hostess. My mom runs the kitchen staff and dad runs the dining room."

"Is it formal or casual?"

"Casual enough that what you and I normally wear is dressy enough and formal enough that V is going to have to find something he can wear other than jeans and undershirts."

"That could be an issue." Mia laughed. "I don't know that he owns anything other than jeans and undershirts."

"He does now." Gem grinned evilly. "He's going to be mad but I took it upon myself to pick him up a pair of kaki pants and a collared shirt."

"Yeah, he's going to be mad." Mia grinned back. "But it's going to be so worth it to see him dressed up. Where are the clothes?"

"Bag on the floor of my closet." Gem gestured toward her open closet as she placed another folded shirt into her suitcase.

First Mia pulled out a pair of light green kaki pants with cargo style pockets on them. "Not bad." She reached into the bag again and pulled out a co-ordinating tank top in light creamy green. "Like he needs another one." She told Gem.

"There's one more thing in there." Gem answered with a sly smile on her face.

Mia reached into the parcel one more time and came out with a button up shirt. Across the front it said 'SINNER' in a very ornate, old fashioned script and on the back in their trademark lettering it said Fender. "He'll love it."

"I hope so." Gem answered. "I wouldn't really care what he wore but I know if I let him go to Acquerello in jeans and a tank top he's going to know he's out of place there. I don't want him to feel uncomfortable like he stands out. I'd rather he was just uncomfortable in clothes he's not use to."

"I understand totally." Mia answered as she placed the items back in the bag. "I'm going to go and pack. It helps to know what I'm getting into."

"Yeah, I understand. The place isn't the Ritz but it's not Fat Burger either." Gem called back, naming the fast food joint the guys ate at when Mia didn't get to feed them. "We'll be going straight to the restaurant for supper if you have something comfy to travel in that you won't want to change out of first." Gem added before she turned back to her bed and finished her packing. She slung the shoulder strap of her back around her body before hoisting up the case of her bass. She wasn't going anywhere without it. She crossed the hall to Mia's door. "How's it going?"

"Fine. I think I'm almost ready to head out. I've got a few options. Since we don't really know what we'll end up doing." Mia picked up a small suitcase.

"You must have half your wardrobe in there."

"I need shoes for every possibility too." Mia said with a grin.

"You should have been a fashion model. You sure would enjoy the free clothes."

"No thank you. I've seen all too often what that type of girl goes through. I've seen how they're treated at races enough to know that life just isn't for me. Only valued for your looks and discarded as soon as someone prettier or more striking comes alone. I'm going to be quite ok with being valued for my skills not my looks thank you."

"I understand. I have a fear of the same thing. Sometimes I think that no matter how good I am I'll only get my few minutes of fame before some prettier girl comes along and steals the spotlight."

"There's no need to worry about that. I'll put you to work in my café because I'll be too busy for it when I have my own thriving practise." Mia smirked playfully.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence in my skills as a musician Mia. Appreciate it greatly."

"Don't mention it."

When Vince rolled into the house at three thirty it was to find the girls sitting in the living room waiting for him.

"Ready to go?" Vince asked rhetorically. Their bags were sitting at their feet and as such would have been hard to miss.

"Yes! Hurry up and go get ready." Mia ordered. "We want to get on the road soon."

"Shit, this is only San Francisco right? Not like we won a trip to Hawaii or somethin'."

"It's only the first time I've ever been invited to leave L.A. so go get ready." Mia retorted.

"I hope the reality of San Francisco doesn't let you down." Gem said as she got up off the couch.

"It won't. It's not the city I'm looking forward to, it's the trip."

"Ok. I better go head off the whole 'don't I dress well enough for you all the time' hurt, angry tirade I'm sure we're going to have to deal with before we can get this show on the road, after Vince finds the parcel I left on his bed." Gem told Mia before heading for the stairs.

"You understand him pretty well for someone so new to the whole Vince mentality, you know?"

Gem looked back over her shoulder in shock. She understood Vince? News to her. "That's how all guys would see it."

"You can keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night." Mia answered.

Gem didn't answer, she just headed down the stairs with a sigh. If she understood Vince so well then why didn't she know what to say now? She knew he was going to be mad she was 'trying to dress him'. She could hear the arguments already. She knew he was going to be angry out of a base emotion of hurt that she thought somehow less of him because of how he did dress.

So knowing all of that, why didn't she know how to explain the situation to him so that he wouldn't be hurt or mad anymore? She paused at the bottom of the stairs, lower lip caught between her teeth in indecision as she stood in place and desperately grabbed for the solution of what to say. Finally, with a shrug she decided she wasn't going to figure it out standing there in the living room. She started toward the door to Vince's room, which stood slightly ajar.

With a show of bravado which was a total act she barely managed she strode boldly into the room and flopped backwards onto the bed in the center. "So, how was the rest of your day?"

"Fine. You?"

His voice did sound a little strained, Gem thought. "Fine," she replied. The bag with her gift in it was no where to be found. Uh oh. She decided to keep trying to brazen it out until he got around to mentioning the bag. "Mia about drove me insane. She's just a little excited about this whole thing. I'm glad I thought to ask you both to come with me."

"Are you?" Vince asked.

Gem heard the snappish tone in the question. "Yes. I hate the drive between here and there when I'm alone. Plus, I want you to meet my mom and dad. They're great people and they're going to like you and Mia a lot. It'll help them sleep at night to know the people I live with are as nice as I've made them out to be."

"Um." Vince grunted back noncommittally.

Gem sighed. Perhaps the only way to deal with the situation was come right out and admit she knew why he was angry and why she'd done what she'd done. "Vince, don't get all upset with me just on principle."

"I dunno what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. We both do. I'm sorry that you think I'm implying the way you are isn't good enough because I picked you out the clothes. It wasn't my intent and I'm sorry to upset you."

"What makes you think I'm upset?"

"The fact you won't look at me, and the way you're answering all my questions with one syllable when you can get away with it."

"I'm just tired. I think I'll stay home this weekend. You and Mia go and have a good time."

"Why are you really staying home?" Gem asked as she rolled onto her side in the center of the bed and propped her head up on her hand.

"Because I'm tired. Did I stutter?" Vince raised his voice slightly.

"No, you just lied to me so you could take the easy way out and not tell me the real reason," Gem said, staring into the center of Vince's back. "I thought I deserved the truth is all."

"Because I don't want to try and live up to someone else's expectations of me all weekend long when I know I'll never manage it. There, happy?"

"Not at all. No one has expectations Vince."

"Then why the fancy clothes, huh?"

"A peace offering for when you actually see the 'small restaurant' my folks own." Gem finally admitted, not seeing another way around the whole situation she'd created.

"What do you mean?" Vince asked, eyes narrowed as he turned around to face Gem where she lay.

"I'd rather if you just got ready so we can leave. You'll see soon enough when we get to Acquerello."

"Acquerello?"

"My folk's restaurant. They figure on us being ready for supper when we get there so they told me to just head straight there off the freeway."

"That's a pretty fancy sounding name for a restaurant."

"I know. Just get ready and let's go, ok? I really want you to come and it's not fair to ruin the weekend for Mia either. Just do me this one favour ok V? I swear you'll understand when we get there and I'll explain more tonight, ok?" Gem practically begged.

"I guess." Vince agreed reluctantly. He really wasn't sure what he was walking into. The fact he was willing to take it on faith and walk into it anyway was unsettling. What was the big deal about this restaurant of her parents?

"Thank you." Gem stood up and headed for the door.

Her unconscious grace never failed to amaze him. Maybe it was because he'd watched her grow into it as she became more secure with who she was and what she did. She didn't hide from the world behind her hair half as much as she used to. The shining blond mass was used more for adornment than as a shield now. "Gem?" He called after her.

"Yeah?" She paused and turned to look at him in the open door of his room.

"Come 'ere a second, would you?"

Gem walked back across the room to where Vince was standing, a puzzled look on her face. "What is it?" She inquired.

Rather than answer Vince simply leaned over and kissed her. When he stood back up and took a step back a moment later he looked down at her face, loving the dazed look he could put in her eyes when he really worked at kissing her. Of course, he was certain she could say the same thing about him. "I'll be up in a minute."

"Ok," she answered and turned to leave. Instead of letting her he grabbed her arm and kissed her again.

♫

"Guys?" Mia called as she started down the stairs. She was worried they were killing each other. When she didn't get an answer she finished the trek, crossed the basement to Vince's door and peeked in. "Oh for heaven's sake," she said on a sigh. "You two don't get enough time to do that during the week? You had to wait until it was almost time to head out on my very first road trip, no matter how short it's going to be?"

They broke apart with guilty looks. Vince's turned to embarrassment which faded to anger swiftly. "You don't knock?"

"You don't close the door?" Mia quipped back.

Gem broke in before they could start an actual fight, a very real possibility between the two of them, even over something so trivial. "I'll just head up stairs and put my stuff into the car. Give me your guitar and I'll put it in the trunk with my bass," she said to Vince.

"Why am I bringing the guitar?"

"Because you never know when you'll need it." Gem answered and didn't wait for him to reply. She simply picked up the case herself and followed Mia out of the room. They packed the stuff into the trunk of the Solara.

"You know there's no way that Vince is going to be happy about taking your car right? He gets very uptight when someone else does the driving."

"Too bad about him. There's no way I'm missing the chance to show up in this car."

"I'm just saying, it's going to be another fight." Mia said, raising her hands in platitude.

"I'll survive."

Vince walked out of the house, dressed in his new outfit. He looked uncomfortable, a fact that didn't stop Mia from pursing her lips in a wolf whistle.

"Shut up." He growled in reply.

"Who're you and what did you do with _our _coyote?" Mia pressed.

"Mia," Vince cautioned.

Mia gave up with a shrug and got into the back seat of the car after stowing her bag in the trunk along with the two guitar cases and Gem's bag. Vince turned to Gem.

"Why don't we take the Maxima?"

"No way. We're taking the Solara. You can drive if you want."

"Gem," Vince started before pausing with a sigh.

"What?" She asked as they stood behind the car, her hand on her hip and a look of impatience on her face.

"You know what kind of questions you showing up in this car are going to start right? Do we really want to go there the first time your folks meet me and Mia?"

"It's just another one of those things that's going to have to happen sooner or later Vince. It might as well be this weekend. Anyone who takes it one step over the line is going to catch an earful."

Vince didn't bother answering. He just got into the driver's seat. If they had to take the Toyota and deal with all the issue doing so was going to start, he sure as hell was taking her up on her offer to drive. He wasn't arriving to deal with so many unpleasant topics frustrated from being a passenger. He didn't travel well as a passenger.

They left the house, Mia keeping up a running commentary on what she thought about being away from Los Angeles. They arrived in San Francisco about three and a half hours after they left L.A. They stopped in a parking lot so Gem could take control of the car. She insisted it would be easier to simply let her navigate the streets that to her still called out that she was home but to Vince might as well have been a maze with no path to the end.

After a few deft turns up and down the hilly streets riddled with one way onlys, Gem pulled the car into the parking lot at the rear of her parent's restaurant. She climbed out of the car and slammed the door. She waited beside the car for Vince to get out and allow Mia to climb out of the back seat. Once they were all outside the car they started toward the building, Gem in the lead. As they walked up to the front of the building Mia ground to a halt.

"It's a church." She said, looking up at the façade.

"No, it used to be a church," Gem corrected. "Now, it's a restaurant."

"It's stunning." Mia breathed out in awe.

"You haven't even been inside." Gem replied as she led the procession closer to the door. "Let's go in before you pronounce the place stunning, shall we?" Mia's need to go on about how impressive the place was was making her nervous. She already knew she had vastly underemphasised the style of her parent's establishment. She pushed open the door and stepped in. Mia followed hot on her heels and Vince brought up the rear.

They stopped in the foyer as they were confronted with Claire at her podium. Gem looked back over her shoulder to see Mia trying to take everything in at once. Vince's look was much harder to read. It might well have been panic. _Oh boy am I going to have some apologizing to do_. Gem turned back to Claire's station.

"I'm sorry but we're fully booked for this evening. Perhaps a reservation for some other time?" The woman asked before even saying hello. With her white blonde hair and pale skin she almost blended into the décor.

"We're expected." Gem replied as she walked past her, into the main room of the restaurant. Mia and Vince moved behind her. She never would have believed that some sun streaks in her hair and a few lost pounds could change her look to the point that the staff at the place she'd worked summers for the past seven years wouldn't recognize her. Of course, Claire hadn't been around for more than two of those summers.

♫

Mia looked around her in awe. This was the 'little Italian place' that Gem wanted nothing to do with? The building was exquisite. A converted chapel, it retained a high, circular stained glass window high on the back wall, as well as the alcove where the communion wafers would have been stored in the days when the building was a holy place. There was an artistic arch over the doorway, flanked by two matching arches over ornate cabinets on the walls. The lighting in the whole place was warm, designed to highlight both the artwork, architecture, and patrons.

The walls were finished in a delicate, creamy yellow and provided the perfect, unobtrusive background for the beautiful, original watercolours they showcased. The ceiling in the dining room was the original exposed beam ceiling of the chapel, and sported wrought iron supports running from side to side.

The tables were all covered in actual white linen table clothes. They were set with real silver, cloth napkins and crystal, which shimmered in the subdued lighting. There were perhaps fifty seats, arranged around the room at tables with enough space between them to lend the atmosphere a private, intimate feel. Every table had an amber lamp in the center, illuminated by a flickering candle. The colour scheme of the entire place was all yellows and soft oranges. It helped to set off the many crystal decanters of wine that filled a large, circular table in the center of the room.

"It's gorgeous." Mia said softly.

"Thank you." An accented voice answered from behind them. They all swung around to find the source of the voice. "I only wish my daughter agreed with you."

"Dad." Gem rushed the tall, slightly portly man who was dressed in a suit jacket and tie and gave him a firm hug. "I've always loved the restaurant, ever since you and mom left Donatello to open it."

"You love it, but not enough to make it your life," he shrugged. "I understand this. But I don't have to like it." He looked beyond Gem, whom he still held to his side with one arm. "And this must be the lovely Mia I've heard so many good things about."

"Yes, this is Mia."

"Hello Mia. I am Giancarlo Davis and welcome to Aquerello."

"Hello." Mia answered.

"And this is Vince." Gem introduced Vince to her father.

"Nice to meet you." Vince answered.

The two men shook hands. "Come, sit down. My wife, Gem's mother will cook dinner for you all before we all head for home." Giancarlo sat them all down at a six seater table in the rear of the dining room and handed out menus.

Mia took a moment to admire hers before she opened it. It was a soft, sunny yellow with a beautiful scene of an open patio door with a leafy tree in the foreground and a view of distant water over a red brick retaining wall. It was very indicative of a villa in Italy.

Gem saw Mia studying the front of the menu. "It's Bologna. My dad is from there." She didn't even open her own menu. She knew what she was having by heart. She also knew that she would allow her father to choose a wine to accompany each course of her meal for her. It was what he was good at, gifted at knowing precisely which wine would compliment each dish.

"I don't know what to have." Vince leaned over from his seat beside Gem at the rear of the table. "Nothing in this menu is something I've heard of before."

"That's not true Vince," Gem answered in a low tone. "There should be steak in there."

"Yeah, but I order steak everywhere."

"Just order the Menu' Degustazione."

"What's that?" Mia and Vince asked at the same time.

"My mom makes up a different four course meal every night and my dad picks a wine to go with each course. It's what I'm having."

"I'm going to be adventurous and have that." Mia decided, closing her menu with a snap. "It'll be a treat to have nice wines that actually go with the food they come with."

"I'm not sure about wine." Vince said, an unsure look on his face.

"Don't have wine then. It's not a requisite, just a suggestion." Gem shrugged, showing what Vince chose to drink with his meal didn't matter to her in the least. "Italians have wine with _everything_," Gem rolled her eyes to show it could be exasperating at the same time as she grinned to show it was one of the things she loved about her family.

"At least they do when their father is the great Giancarlo Davis." A male voice broke in from the foot of the table. They all looked up to find Doug standing beside the table. Nick was beside him. "We heard you were in town having supper with mom and dad and figured we'd drop in on it."

"Pull up chairs." Gem invited with a quick glance at Vince to see how he was accepting Doug's presence. He seemed ok. But no better. Of course, being dropped in the middle of one of the 'top ten places to eat in San Francisco' could be the reason why. It was doubtful he had ever been in a place that didn't boast a deep fryer before.

Nick took the seat at the foot of the table as Doug pulled out the chair beside Mia for himself. This left him seated across from Gem.

"I meant to ask after your father introduced himself, how did you end up with the last name Davis if your father is from Italy?" Mia asked, echoing Vince's thoughts.

"He took an American name when he moved here. He thought Davis would be easier for Americans to spell, say and remember than his Italian last name, Davincolli."

"And it was almost the end of dad. Granddad hit the roof. Good thing he lives in Italy still."

"I think that's being a bit melodramatic Doug. He wasn't pleased, I'll give you that. I guess I'm biased since I'm glad he did it. Paterlini isn't much of a stage name."

"Yeah, because the people in the bar really care what your last name is." Doug mumbled.

"Watch your step." Vince cautioned in a low voice.

Doug's head snapped up as his gaze moved from his plate to Vince's face.

"Boys!" Mia called. "Play nice. There's no need to fight."

"Sorry." Doug mumbled.

Gem turned to Vince. "You decide what you're having yet?"

"Whatever you are." Vince replied.

"You sure? I could just order for you off the menu. I think I could do ok picking out things you'd like."

"I'm sure. I'll have the same thing you said you were having."

"Ok." Gem gave up with a shrug and looked up as her father was reaching the table at her side. "Hey dad. You and mom are joining us, right?"

"After I tell Suzette what you're all having." Giancarlo answered. "So, what are you all having?"

"I'll have my usual and V wants the same thing," Gem informed her father. "What about you, Mia?"

"I'll have the same." Mia answered with a smile for Gem's father.

"Us too." Doug answered for himself and Nick.

"I guess that's what we're all having." Giancarlo said as he walked away toward the door of the kitchen.

A short time later the first course was brought out. Gem's father and mother came out of the kitchen and joined their offspring and guests at the table. Gem introduced her mother to Vince and Mia. Her father poured wine and everyone started to eat.

As the meal went on Gem started to feel Vince relaxing more, as her family-with the exception of Doug-included him in conversation. Mia fit in with her family as though she'd been born to them. Both Suzette and Giancarlo took to dark Italian woman instantly.

While the rest of the group were enjoying coffee, Gem's parents excused themselves to close the restaurant down, it having gone to ten thirty as they had ate and talked. Within half an hour Giancarlo was pushing them all out the door so he could lock up and arm the security system.

They all started toward the parking lot in a gaggle, still laughing and talking as they all made for their cars. Giancarlo and Suzette made their way toward the black Pontiac G6 coupe as Doug and Nick both headed toward Doug's black Corolla. Both pairs paused and turned to look as the Caribbean blue Toyota's lights flashed twice as Gem unlocked it and disarmed it with her remote.

"Whose car is that?" Doug asked as he watched Gem make her way toward the driver's door and move to open it.

"Mine." She turned around to face her family and answered. "The Honda had to go."

"How'd you get the money for this?" Nick asked in awe as he moved toward the Solara and walked around its sleek exterior. "I was going to send you some cash after I got to Nevada, but not enough to upgrade quite this far from the Civic."

"I didn't buy it, actually. The last time Vince worked on the Honda he decided it was going to die before I ever broke down and replaced it so he bought this one broken and started fixing it up for me." Gem answered Nick's spoken question-and several of Doug's unspoken one's-all with one short answer.

"Kind of an expensive gift for a friend isn't it?" Doug asked.

Gem shrugged, "I don't often ask how much gifts I'm given cost. It seems rude." She watched Doug's face colour red as her barb found its mark. She was happy he was embarrassed. He should well be, to her way of thinking.

"I just don't see a lot of people gifting their friends with cars, Gemmalynn."

"I don't imagine a lot of people do give cars as gifts. But Vince and Mia grew up with cars as a big focus in their lives and Vince didn't want to see me driving the Honda around with the broken air conditioner and in need of so many repairs. It wasn't going to pass smog this year anyway. He picked this one out for me and I'm grateful he did because as you've pointed out it isn't like I ever could have bought it on my own. I never could have bought a car with a blown engine and fixed it up on my own." Gem's chin came up in her defence of Vince and her right to have the gift he had bought for her.

"Why didn't you come to us if you needed money for a new car?" Gem's mother asked her.

"Because I didn't want to hear a lecture about how I should just come home because then I wouldn't even need a car because I could travel to the restaurant with you two every day."

"Working with your mother and I is where you belong." Giancarlo answered, simply stating the situation how it appeared to him.

"No, it's where you want me to be, not where I belong. I belong where I am. I should be following my own dreams instead of trying to want the dreams you have for me."

Her matter of fact tone made Vince marvel at her ability to keep herself together. He didn't think he could do such a good job of keeping himself stable if someone cast doubts on his major decisions the way her family cast doubts on Gem's.

"Your father and brother only want you to be safe." Gem's mother tried to smooth things over.

"Yes, I'm sure they do. It's just that their way of keeping me safe is to never let me do anything I want to, never let me make any of my own choices."

"You make choices like accepting gifts like cars from men! How are we supposed to trust your judgement? Gem, there's a word for girls who take gifts for-" Doug trailed off, unwilling or unable to finish the sentence.

"Doug." Suzette said softly, trying to warn her son away from the topic he'd lit on.

"What word is that Doug? Why stop there? If you're such a smart guy, such a big man, tell me what the word is for girls who do things like that. For girls like me." She reminded her brother furiously. Doug didn't answer, he just glared back at his sister with his eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together.

Gem was so mad she wasn't even tuned in to how mad Vince was swiftly growing. She ploughed on. "Cat got your tongue? I think this whole thing is more over how obvious it is Vince wants me to make it on my own, wants me to succeed where as you all want me to fail so I'll come running home with my tail between my legs and fall into the role that you all think I should have.

"Well, it's time you woke up to the harsh reality of my life. I _am_ doing ok on my own. I _am_ happy where I am. I _will_ make it as a performer. And if I don't then I will keep on working for Barry at the Cobalt and with Mia at the café. I _do_ have a boyfriend who's a very nice person that the lot of you are too narrow minded to really see for who he is. That's _not_ my problem and it's _not_ his.

"And for the record, the car was bought before we were dating. It was bought because Vince couldn't stand the thought of the Honda breaking down in the middle of the night and leaving me stranded along some road in the middle of no where. Which happened. And when it did it was Vince who had made sure I had a cell phone in the car and it was Vince who came to get me, driving like a crazy person just so that I wouldn't be left alone any longer than I had to be. He did it just because he thinks like that, not for what he thought he could get from me for it!"

"I never meant to imply anything untoward was going on." Doug said, stumbling over some of the words.

"Yes, you did." Gem corrected. "But that's fine. I understand your ignorance of things _you_ don't understand. You have to put conditions on your love. People and things have to fall in with your idea of how they should be and act for you to love them. Unconditional has no meaning in your world. But that's your problem, not mine, and I'd thank you to leave it out of life."

"Gem, your brother wasn't trying to hurt your feelings."

"No, he was trying to make me see things his way, the _right_ way, and it's time he learned there is often more than one right way for things to be. I'm sick and tired of trying to live my own life and still make it fit into his mould of what's ok for me at the same time mom, and I won't do it anymore."

Gem's parents had never seen her so wound up over anything before. She'd gone from calm to almost livid.

"What kind of person are you to imply that your sister is a-a-?" Mia couldn't even finish her own question, she was so mad. "For all the asshole things he's done even Dominic wouldn't stoop so low. You're her brother! You shouldn't talk to her like that."

"Let's go." Vince growled. He wanted to flee the scene before he lost the fragile thread of control he had over his anger and showed Gem's family they were totally correct with their assumptions about him. He wanted to remind Doug how much it had hurt the last time he'd shot his mouth off at his sister. But instead he slid onto the cool leather seat on the passenger side of Gem's car and slammed his door. Gem followed him in, after allowing Mia to slide in the back. "I always thought you were exaggerating the amount of force your family used over you not making it in L.A. I see now you weren't." He said, barely managing to say it without roaring or cursing.

"They're not so bad. They really do want what's best for me."

"Stop standing up for them!" Mia exclaimed. "They want you to do just what you said, never do anything that could potentially hurt you or upset you. They want you to do just what they think is best for you all the time. And I think they want that because it makes their lives easier when they don't have to deal with you getting hurt or upset."

"I'm sure it never crossed their minds quite like that." Gem said. In her mind she knew that Mia was right. She also knew her family didn't mean it like that. They all had their own things to do and they just wanted her to do something close to them and mundane so she wouldn't be a burden to them in their busy lives. Of course, when she put it like that, even to herself, it sounded pretty awful.

"Maybe not but it sure did cross Doug's mind to run his mouth again."

"Doug just grew up as the oldest and since mom and dad were almost never home a lot of the responsibility at home fell to him. I'm not saying that makes the way he is ok, but I do understand a bit where he's coming from. I keep hoping that someday the right girl will come along to lighten him up a bit." Gem tried to laugh off the situation.

"Yeah, if you can find one who can overlook the fact that he's a control freak." Mia said, giggling while she said it.

"And too blunt for his own good." Vince added on a chuckle. "It's gonna get him his face rearranged for free some day."

"I thought it already had." Gem replied, still laughing.

"Oh yeah." Vince laughed harder. "I'll never forget him down in the dirt bleeding outta his nose wishing I wouldn't hit him again, and then Mia kicking him."

"I wish I'd seen it." Gem said as she laughed even harder, envisioning the scene in her mind.

It was then that she realized in the span of a few moments her two friends had pulled her out of her funk. And she knew that while they were staying at her parent's house she wasn't visiting home. She was visiting family. Home was the white house in Echo Park. And it felt good to finally really belong somewhere. Somewhere where she was accepted for who she was. For what she wanted to be.

It sure felt good to finally feel that way. "Thanks guys."

"For what?" Vince asked.

Gem answered after a moment's thought, "for being here," she shrugged. "I don't know how I would have gotten through that if it wasn't for you guys."

"If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have been in the situation. I shoulda known better than to think I could give you a car and not piss off your family."

"They shouldn't read their own values into my life, into our relationship. It has nothing to do with them."

"Gem's right. It's not like no one ever got a car as a gift before."

"Listen, for the rest of the time we're here we're going to have a good time. For the purposes of this visit I'm a tourist to San Francisco just like you guys. So, that just makes me wonder what we're going to do with the rest of the night. It's too late to see a movie and too early to go to bed."

"We'll go ditch our gear and see what we want to do from there." Vince said.

"Ok." Gem said and switched gears to climb a hill. "Well, look on the bright side."

"There's a bright side?" Mia questioned.

"Yeah, all the hard revelations got out of the way in one go. They know how I got the car, they know I never intend to come home even if I never get a record deal and they know that Vince and I are dating. We don't have to have two more difficult conversations later."

"You're an eternal optimist, that's for sure." Vince answered.

"What can I say, I'm a 'the glass is half full' kinda girl."

Gem pulled the car up to her family home and parked it in the drive. She killed the motor and yanked the parking brake on before getting out and letting Mia out. They all gathered their gear and walked up to the house.

Gem couldn't help but notice all the lights were on and everyone's car was there. Even Doug's. "Looks like he hasn't put his foot in his mouth enough for one night." Gem said on a sigh, pointing at Doug's car.

"I don't know how much longer I can go on letting him say bone head things without kicking his ass."

"All you can do is try your best." Gem quipped back.

"Well, the thing is, I've always been kind of an underachiever."

"I'll bet. Add to that with a chronic habit of putting yourself down."

"I have a lot of years of doing it to grow out of."

"I'd really rather you didn't beat up my brother in front of my mom and dad. But, if he really deserves it I guess I could live with being disowned."

"I don't think it will go that far." Mia broke in.

"You don't know Doug." Gem answered. Before either of them could comment farther she opened the door. The door let off into a foyer. The living room was off to the left and that was where the rest of her family had gathered. When they entered the house all conversation ground to a stop. Gem looked in the room and found three guilty looks and Nick. That didn't bode well for the rest of her evening. "Don't stop talking about me on my account." Gem said sarcastically.

Vince silently cheered her for standing up for herself. He then felt like a hypocrite because nine times out of ten he wouldn't stand up for himself against his friends and family. Well, unless they goaded him into a fist fight. Those he knew how to defend himself in.

"We weren't talking about you." Her mother assured. "We just didn't know who was here, that's all."

"Sure mom, ok. Whatever makes you feel better," Gem turned her back on the room and turned to face her friends. "Come on guys, I'll show you where we're bunking tonight." She led the way up the stairs.

"Gem!"

At her father's call Gem paused and looked over her shoulder, "Yeah?"

"Cindy called. She heard you were in town. She wants you to call her back."

"Ok, thanks," Gem finished the stairs and threw open the first door on the left. "Vince, this is the spare room and you can chuck your stuff in there." She walked to the next door over and opened it before walking in, "and Mia, this is our suite."

Mia took in the room with its posters of various bands all over the walls. The band posters fought with posters for Zon, Gibson, Fender, and several small companies that Mia had never heard of before, but apparently also made bass guitars. The walls were a pale blue, what was visible of them at any rate, and the carpet was a darker blue. Over the desk there was a cork board covered in candid snapshots of Gem and other people. There was a double canopy bed in the center of the room, the one claim to feminism Mia could see. "So this is your room huh?"

"Yeah, pretty sad, no? I mean, who grows up with posters of guitars and bands like Tori Amos and Fiona Applegate instead of actors and pop stars, right?"

"I think it's cool. Even back then you knew who you were and where your interests lay. Did you outgrow the bass or these bands?"

"Not really, no."

"Then you knew who you were a lot younger than a lot of people. Hell, a lot of people never figure it out. Don't knock knowing who you are."

"I suppose not. I should call Cin back." Gem picked up the phone and dialled her friend's number. She answered on the second ring.

"I thought you were never going to call back."

"And hello to you too Cindy. How are you?"

"Hey Gem. I'm fine, thanks. About time you called me back. What are you doing tonight?"

"We were just trying to answer that very question."

"Good, you're coming out with me and some friends. We're going to the Vineyard."

"I'm not dragging my guests to my uncle's lounge for karaoke Cin."

"Come on! It'll be fun." Cindy wheedled.

It was when Mia joined her caterwauling from the other end that Gem finally caved. At least her uncle was cool. "Ok, fine. We'll meet you there in half an hour."

"See you there."

Gem hung up and turned to Mia. "How on earth are we going to convince V to go to a lounge on the night when it's a karaoke bar?"

"Tell him his two choices are come with us or stay here with Doug, of course."

Gem cocked her head to the side. "Devious. Devious but effective. Let's get ready and then go break the great news."

"Deal."

Both girls finished at about the same time. Mia took in the changed way Gem had slowly grown into dressing when she was going to perform. She no longer tried to hide on stage in her baggy athletic clothes and a curtain of her thick, straight hair. She was currently wearing a pair of chunky boots, hipster jeans in indigo, fitted until the bottom where they flared out slightly in a 'boot' cut. She was wearing another one of Letty's old tops, a red tank top sheer enough to reveal the general shape of the red bra she had on under it.

Mia had stuck to her old standard style. She had on a pair of black jeans with a frilly faux waistband, a pair of camel coloured, stiletto heeled boots and a watercolour tank top with shades of lavender, pink, pale blue, soft green and yellow all swirled together.

"You look good." Mia told Gem as she ran a comb through her hair one last time.

"You too." Gem answered and moved toward the door of her room. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Mia followed Gem out of the room and across to the next door up the hall.

Gem knocked. "You decent?"

"Yeah." Vince's muffled voice called back.

Gem pushed the door open before she and Mia piled into the room.

"What's up?" Vince asked after taking in the wardrobe changes on the girls.

"We're going to my uncle's lounge to meet Cindy. You coming?" Gem asked. She noticed that Vince had already changed out of his 'good behaviour' clothes in favour of his own undershirt and a pair of his well worn dark denims.

"What are my options?"

"Stay here and entertain Gem's brothers." Mia answered with a grin.

"So you're saying I don't have any." Vince said with a frown.

"If you want to look at it that way." Mia affirmed. "I look at it more like you have two. Come with us and kick back with a cold beer or two while you enjoy the company or stay here and be uptight, need half a dozen beer to not kill someone and don't enjoy the company."

"So I really don't have any options."

"Not really," Gem shrugged, "no."

"Ok, let's see the lounge."

"Ok, let's go." Gem started down the stairs, Mia and Vince on her heels. She stopped at the door to the living room and looked in. "We're going out." She said to her parents and brothers, who were all still sitting in the living room.

"Where you heading?" Nick asked from the couch.

"Vineyard." Gem answered as she started to move toward the front door.

"Cool. I'm coming too." Nick got up and followed the group into the foyer of the house, where he bent to put on his sneakers.

"You riding with us?" Gem asked her brother as she walked toward her car.

"Naw, I'm gonna ride the bike. Won't get much of a chance after I head to Nevada."

"Ok, we'll just see you there when we get there I suppose." Gem answered, grinning. She knew her brother would beat them ten times over. He might not if she let Vince drive, but there was no way she was willing to allow Vince to race her car in the narrow, hilly streets of San Francisco.

"See you there." Nick answered before pulling his helmet on over his head and climbing onto his Ninja.

Gem, Mia and Vince got into her car and were about to back down the driveway when Doug came out of the house and waved at Gem as though to make her pause. She did so out of a long standing habit of doing what Doug wanted. He walked up to her window, which she lowered.

"I was wondering if I could come too." He said as he looked down at Gem.

"You? You want to go to the Vineyard?" Gem didn't wait for his answer. She carried on as though he'd answered affirmatively. "Why?"

"It's the last time we're all going to be together for a long time. You have your life in L.A., Nick's going to Nevada, I'll have a full time internship with my firm soon and then we'll never see each other."

Put like that, Gem couldn't find it in her to say no, even though she figured that no was a better answer. She didn't see how it could possibly be a good thing to put Vince and Doug together in the same car. "Get in." She said as she swung the door open and leaned forward to allow her brother to slip into the back seat. He climbed in. She started back down the drive.

As though to illustrate how dissatisfied he was with having Doug in the car Vince ejected Gem's CD from the player and inserted one of his own. Within seconds Metallica's metal sounds started to blast around the cabin of the car. It was such a spiteful move on Vince's part, with him just assuming that Doug wouldn't like the band or the loud music and doing it just to make him uncomfortable that Gem found herself laughing at Vince.

"What?" Vince asked, smiling slightly. He knew what she found funny.

"Nothing." She answered.

Mia and Doug looked at the two front seat occupants in confusion. They had no idea what was so funny.

They finally reached Gem's uncle's lounge and got out of the car. They crossed to the door, Gem and Vince together out front, leaving Mia to bring up the rear with Doug. They walked past Nick's bike on the way across the lot. True to Gem's thinking he'd beaten them there by a good few minutes.

They walked through the door and into the main room of the establishment. The room had a large screen at one end, currently showing the screen saver of the karaoke machine. The host was standing off to one side of her machine, talking to an older man. The place was half decently crowded, about three quarters full. There was an L shaped oak bar in one corner of the room. Two TV's were suspended over the bar, obviously used for showing sporting events when it wasn't karaoke night. There were tables all around the bar and up until about five feet in front of the screen. Under the screen was a slightly raised dais. It was where the karaoke performers went to sing, but could also be used for a stage for live events.

Gem didn't spot Cindy right away. It was therefore quite a shock when the other girl almost took her down after a flight across the room ending in a short time of being airborne before she had Gem in a tight hug.

"Gem!"

"Cindy!" Gem exclaimed back as she returned her friend's hug before holding her out at arm's length. Her friend's hair was shiny again, glistening with hues of blue under the subdued lighting of the lounge. Her skin was pale but glowing with health. She'd never been dark in her life, but at least the black circles were gone from under her eyes. She had put some weight on and she just looked _good_. "You look so good!"

Cindy laughed happily. "I _feel_ good."

"Even better." The two hugged again. Gem turned to look over her shoulder. "You might remember Vince, and this is Mia." Gem pulled Mia forward. "Mia, this is my friend Cindy. We grew up together."

"Nice to meet you." Mia and Cindy shook hands.

"Same to you."

"So, what have you been up to?" Gem asked Cindy as the lot of them grabbed two tables and shoved them together.

"Your uncle gave me a job here a few nights a week." Cindy paused and looked around to see who else was in earshot. Apparently happy with who was she continued. "I've been seeing someone."

"Really?" Gem asked, head cocked to the side. "Who?" Cindy looked around a bit. She appeared nervous to Gem. She really hoped it wasn't the looser ex.

"Promise me you won't get mad."

"I'll only promise you that if you promise me the guy isn't Bobby Webb."

"Oh gosh no! I'll never make that mistake twice." Cindy took a deep breath to brace herself. "It's Nick." She rushed out.

"Nick my brother Nick?" Gem asked incredulously.

"Yes, are you mad?"

"You're dating my motorcycle riding, leather wearing, flyboy brother?"

"Yeah. You are mad aren't you?"

"Hell no I'm not mad. That's fantastic. You've always had a crush on him."

Cindy grabbed Gem in another tight hug. "I'm so glad you're not mad. I just don't know what I'm going to do when he goes away. Six whole weeks."

"It'll feel like no time."

The house music shut off then and the host took to the dais. "Ok people, we're going to get started again. Come on up and sign the sheet with your name and what you want to sing and lets get up off our butts and do some singing."

"I need a drink." Vince and Nick said at the same time. Both chuckled.

The older man who had been talking to the host walked up to their table. "How did both my nephews get in here without me noticing?"

"Uncle Dave!" Gem exclaimed happily as she jumped up.

"Gem? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me." Gem's uncle Dave grabbed her in hug.

"I wouldn't have recognized you. How are you? Famous yet?"

"Not yet, no." Gem grinned. "But well on my way."

"What brings you home?"

"Sending Nick off. Plus I wanted my friends to meet mom and dad. Dave, this is Mia, and this is Vince."

"Hi there." Dave turned back to his niece. "So, what are you going to sing?"

"Oh no, I'm not going up there tonight."

A chorus of yes you are's went up around the table.

"Guys! I'm not here to perform. I just want to take a break."

"It's just karaoke Gem. It's not like you have to be really on. You have to sing!" Cindy whined. "I'll be just like old times. Come on!"

"Ok, ok. I surrender. I'll sing _one_ song with _you._"

"That's my girl." Dave grinned. "First round's on the house. What's everyone want?"

Everyone ordered, beers all around for the guys and cocktails for the girls. They were about half way through their drinks when Cindy excused herself for a moment. After she came back the next thing Gem knew the host was calling her name.

"Cindy!" Gem exclaimed. "That was devious."

"Oh come on! We'll go together."

"Ok." Gem answered, and with a wicked glint in her eye she grabbed Mia by the hand. "You too."

"No way!" Mia pulled backwards. "I don't sing."

"It's not singing. It's karaoke." Gem said, dragging Mia behind her toward the stage. They could hear the guys laughing at them as they followed the progress of the three girls.

"It's on a stage and you expect me to sing along. That's singing."

"You sing in church."

"This isn't church!"

"Play make-believe." Gem said on a laugh as they reached the 'stage'. "Cin, what did you sign us up to sing.

"What else? Girls just wanna have fuuuunnnn." Cindy sang playfully.

The host turned on the mic. "Up next we have Cindy, Gem and," she leaned toward them, covering the mic with her hand, "who's your friend?"

"Mia," Gem whispered back.

"And Mia, singing 'Girls just wanna have fun. Give it up for them!"

The audience clapped and hooted enthusiastically and the music for the song started. All three girls had microphones in hand. Gem looked fully at home, feeling like she'd grown up on the stage at the Vineyard. On queue she started singing confidently, her two friends singing quietly along with her.

♫

Doug watched his sister strut around the small stage confidently, singing along to the canned music as though it was her band and it meant something. She was clearly over playing the situation, acting like a total ham but she was also clearly having fun.

"_Some boys take a beautiful girl and hide her away from the worst of the world. I wanna be the one to walk in the sun_!"

She was happy up there, and Doug could tell. Even singing the cheesy eighties hit she had a big grin on her face and it wasn't hard to see she was enjoying herself. Her attitude had even rubbed off on Cindy and Mia. Both of Gem's back up singers were giving it their all now. They didn't sound half bad together.

It was then that Doug finally admitted to himself that make it as a pro or not, performing was where Gem belonged.

And, judging by the way Vince couldn't take his eyes off her, maybe they even belonged together. There was certainly nothing causal about the way he was captivated by her. Now that didn't mean that he had to like it, or like the other, tattooed, tool wielding man. But it did perhaps mean he would have to try and control his opinions on the matter and let Gem make up her own mind about how she wanted to handle her relationship and her life.

When the song ended the three went to leave the stage. The crowd started chanting _Gem, Gem, Gem_. Doug surprised himself by being one of the loudest among them. The host took the stage and looked at Gem.

"Seems like they want you to go again. How about it?"

"I guess so." Gem sighed like she was perturbed, but she was smiling while she did it and Doug knew she was actually happy to be appreciated for doing something she was enjoying. She and the host went to the book of songs and after a moment the woman walked over to her machine and Gem climbed back up on stage.

"Ok, you're going to have to forgive me if this is horrible. I'm use to singing with my bass in my hands and my actual band behind me now. I'll do my best though so here we go."

The music started. Doug couldn't place it. He didn't listen to popular music very often. He was too busy to catch more than the odd song as he commuted from school to work and home again. It was an upbeat song, opening with the sound of a woman laughing and some synthesized accompaniment. He recognized it when she reached the chorus.

"_If God is a DJ, life is a dance floor, love is a rhythm, you are the music. If God is a DJ, life is a dance floor; you get what you're given. It's all how you use it_."

His sister had it good, Doug was starting to see. No matter what she was feeling or thinking she always had a song to sum it up. Be it one of her own or one of someone else's all she had to do was put on a CD and sing her heart out. She was clearly enjoying herself right now, but he would bet that she could simply belt out songs in the shower and make herself feel better too.

Just as the law was his outlet for injustice in his world, music was that outlet to Gem. As that became clear to him so did two other things. He had some hope for a good relationship with his sister in the future and he seriously needed to learn to unbend and relax when he wasn't at work. He really was a stick in the mud a lot of the time and Gem and the rest of his family and her friends had a legitimate beef with him.

♫

Gem returned to their table and sat down amid the cheering patrons. They had a few more drinks and cheered on all the other people who went up to sing, with varying amounts of success. Gem winced as one drunk man, who clearly thought he was one of the last wild west cowboys left in California got up and attempted 'Guitars, Cadillacs' by Dwight Yolkam. Attempted was the operative word.

By the time he was done everybody at the table cheered, not for him but for the fact he was done. Gem was feeling pretty lenient though. It made her wonder just how many times the guys had refilled her drink when she wasn't looking. Normally people who butchered songs drove her crazy. Her opinion that someone was trying to get her drunk was reinforced when she heard herself agree to get up and sing with Mia and Cindy again without much protest.

They took to the stage and belted out the Britney Spears version of 'I love rock and roll.'

They did better for applause than the cowboy who'd gone before. When they made their way back to the table Gem scorned her own chair and chose instead to sit on Vince. "How's it going?"

"Good. You?" Vince asked with one eyebrow raised skyward.

"Good. I'm thinking of giving up on the whole idea of an independent band and just starting an answer to the Backstreet boys with Mia and Cindy. What do you think?"

"I think you should give Indigo Sound another shot before you make any decisions." Vince chuckled. "Mia doesn't sing as well as you think she does."

"Do I sing as well as I think I do?"

"Yes, you sing as well as you think. You are also mildly intoxicated and starting to slur your words though." Vince admitted with a smile.

"Am not. Do not." Gem protested, unable to decide which statement she took greater exception to.

"My mistake."

"You're the only girl in the place who could sound so good while slightly drunk." Doug broke in.

"I'm not drunk."

"Sure you're not." Doug agreed.

"Has Gem ever been drunk before?" Nick asked the table at large. "Would she even know she was drunk, were she drunk, which she clearly isn't right now, by her own admission?"

"There was this one time," Cindy started.

"Oh no you don't!" Gem said, leaning toward Cindy from her place in Vince's lap. "We're not going there."

"Oh yes we are. There was this one time," Cindy started again, a wicked grin on her mouth.

"Fine, whatever. Tell the story, see if I care."

Cindy continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "that she and I got into the wine at Aquerello. We drank a whole bottle of something red and followed it up with a whole bottle of something white. We were loaded off our asses. We thought that wine wasn't real alcohol because we'd seen so many people drink so much of it at the restaurant. Of course they were all older people who had a few glasses. Not fifteen year olds who had the equivalent of a whole bottle each."

Gem hid her face in her hands out of her embarrassment.

"Then we had to hide the evidence. The next day we were both so hung over we had to fake sick to hide it from our folks."

Everyone cracked up. Doug stopped laughing first. "You know, Dad blamed me for those two missing bottles of wine. The red you two sucked down was a two hundred dollar bottle of Solaia."

"Hey, he blamed me for that too!" Nick broke in. "That was you two?"

Gem nodded without looking up. "What I did at fifteen can't be held against me now." She said through her hands.

"Maybe not, but what about what you did last month?" Mia asked.

"Mia!" Gem exclaimed, looking up with her eyes wide open. "No!"

"Yes." Mia said. "Gem went and decided to see why people got drunk one night after a particularly hard day at work and ended up in a biker bar. The Hell's Angels got her drunk in their bar and then drove her home, on the back of the leader's bike. They loved her so much she has a standing invitation to their club and on all their bike runs."

"Damn! My little sister moves fast!" Nick said, in awe. "The Hell's Angels?"

"I didn't know that when I went in. I just knew it was open after the Cobalt was closed."

"You've lead an adventurous life since you moved to L.A." Doug said.

Gem looked at him. For the first time she didn't sense censure in his voice. She was surprised, but not in a bad way. The next performer took the stage at that point and interrupted their conversation as he attempted to sing 'Ass like that'.

"Eminem he isn't." Mia said cattily as they watched the poor man try to rap.

"No kidding." Cindy answered. "We should get outta here. We could hit Ruby Skye."

"Is that your club de jour?" Gem asked her friend. Cindy was always picking a new club she just couldn't live without. Cindy was more of a going out kind of girl than her.

"Yes! It's great. You'll like it."

"Sounds fun." Mia said. "Can we Gem. Please?" Mia pouted. With her big, sad brown eyes and slightly protruding lower lip Gem couldn't say no. It would be like kicking a puppy. But what finally made up her mind was when the Dwight Yolkam fan took the stage. This time to sing 'Fast as you.'

"Ok, anything that gets us the heck outta here."

"Hurray!" Cindy said as she got up. They all made for the exit after Gem and her brothers had said good night to their uncle.

"How are we going to get there?" Gem asked as they stood in a gaggle outside the lounge.

"I'm fine to drive the Solara." Vince offered. Gem shot him a look. "I only had two beer the whole time we were here."

"I'm taking the bike. I hardly had anything myself."

Cindy looked at Gem. "I'll just ride with you guys then."

"I got my extra helmet right here." Nick offered Cindy, pulling up the seat on the bike and taking out an extra helmet. "You wanna come with me or ride in the car?"

"I'll go with you."

"Ok, we'll have to follow you guys there because I have no idea where this place is and Vince doesn't know the city."

"I think I know where it is." Doug broke in. "But it might be best if we tried to follow them."

On that note Nick and Cindy climbed on the bike and the rest got into Gem's car, Vince at the wheel, Mia and Doug in the back and Gem riding shotgun.

"No racing my car." Gem teased Vince as they followed Nick's tail light out of the parking lot.

"What's that? Race your car? But Gem, I don't know the roads."

"I said no racing my car!"

"Well, if you insist I guess I could try to race it but the roads are pretty narrow."

"Ok, do what you want. Just remember I know where the extra keys for the Maxima are."

"Hey now!" Vince turned serious. "That's not funny."

"What's that? Take the Maxima and paint it pink? If you sure you're that confident of your sexuality I guess I don't mind."

"Are they always like this?" Doug asked Mia, leaning over so he wouldn't be overheard.

"Most of the time, yeah." Mia grinned. "It's great. It's like they don't even need anyone else to keep each other entertained."

"So they're not really arguing?"

"Hell no. If they were really fighting your folks would be hearing it right now all the way back at their house."

"My sister doesn't get that upset about anything. She'd never have a fight that loud."

"She would with Vince. Of course then they get to go-" Mia looked up at Doug with a guilty look. He looked confused. "Make up." She finished and blushed.

"Oh." Doug continued to look confused for a moment before he too started to look embarrassed at the implication. "Oh." He said as he finally got it. "I guess they say it's not good to go to bed angry."

"True." Mia looked impressed with how Doug dealt with the information he had been given.

"What are you guys talking about back there?" Gem turned around in her seat and asked.

"World peace." Mia answered.

"I see." Gem said. "As long as you aren't flirting. One of my brothers hooked up with my best friend is all I can handle."

"So, Cindy and Nick huh?" Doug said, leaning back in the seat.

"Yeah. I never would have seen that coming."

"After that asshole she was dating I guess Nick had to look good. Nice guy, has a future and a job. He's casual and fun, not uptight like Bobby."

"I see the attraction I just never thought it would happen. I just hope Nick isn't a little too flip for Cindy. I know she doesn't want to do commitment right now but someday she's going to want to again. I mean, clearly commitment is important to her or she wouldn't have stuck it out with Bobby for so long. Unless Nick grows up a lot in the next few months, much as I love my brother, I just don't see him giving her what she needs."

"Why not?" Mia asked.

"He's nice, but he embodies the stereotype of a motorcycle riding, fighter jet piloting guy who knows he's above average looking."

"Who says that he won't change his ways for Cindy?" Mia asked. "They looked pretty into each other. Everybody settles down sometime. Or at least, almost everyone."

"I suppose," Gem answered. "I wonder if we're almost there."

"I hope so," Vince growled softly. "I'm not having the most fun time following that damn bike through traffic."

"We're going to take the next left and then it'll be right ahead on the right," Doug said.

"I still don't know how I got talked into this," Gem sighed. "I don't like dance clubs."

"Nick and Cindy wanted to go and you wanted to hang out with Nick," Doug reminded.

"But why are you here again?" Gem asked her brother, eyes narrowed in thought.

"Same reason as you."

Vince parked the car and they all piled out to catch up with Nick and Cindy before paying their cover and heading into the club.

The foyer was large. It had geometric cut outs in the walls, lit from behind by red neon. The floor echoed the patterns in white, red and blue tiles. It was all vaguely reminiscent of the sixties. They made their way through to the main area of the club.

It was very big. There was a two level stage in the front of the room. The DJ was ensconced on the stage, raised above the writhing crowd filling the club. There was a dance floor in the center of the room. The center section was done in black and white tiles, the pattern echoed that of the entrance. Off to either side of the dance floor was a seating area. The one of the right was done all in reds with crushed velvet draperies, couches and even red velvet ropes marking it off from the dance area.

The other side was done in rich purples and blues and the feeling was very much eastern, with peaked padded seat backs built into the walls over benches with geometric tables in front of them, surrounded by multicoloured stools on the other side.

There was an upstairs with another seating area and two bars. Over the dance floor there was a huge chandler, shaped like a huge, multi-arm star. In front of it was a disco ball. The light effects were second to none, top of the line and state of the art.

Gem looked around herself in awe. Ruby Skye made the Cobalt Café look like a dive. And she thought Barry had one hell of a nice bar. "Wow," she finally got out. Only Vince over heard her.

"Yeah, it's pretty overwhelming."

"I think I need another drink and a place to sit where I can still take this all in."

"Ok, let's go exploring then." Vince answered and took Gem's hand. She turned to Mia and Doug.

"We're going after a drink and a sit. What about you?"

"I'll go with you for now," Mia said after a second's thought.

"Me too, I suppose," Doug said.

The four of them moved off toward one of the downstairs bars and got drinks. They were lucky enough to snag a table that a party was just vacating as they walked by. Nick and Cindy found them shortly after.

"Ok, you have to come dance. There's no point coming to a place like this to sit at a table."

"I don't dance," Gem hollered back at her friend to be heard over the techno beats in the air.

"You're going to tonight," Cindy said as she grabbed her friend's hand and pulled. The slightly intoxicated Gem came out of her seat almost against her will.

Mia squealed. "I so didn't want to sit around. I've never been in a club like this."

"Mi, we practically live in Hollywood. I think we could find a club at least this nice."

"Sure, but we got in here tonight," Mia said before she took Gem's free hand and helped Cindy pull her out onto the dance floor.

"I can't dance," Gem whined.

"Hey, the sign under the name of the place said 'explore your rhythm'. If anyone I know has rhythm it's the bass guitar player."

They took Gem out onto the dance floor almost against her will just as a new song started. They found a space among all the other bodies on the floor as the heavy bass beat started to pound. It almost seemed like sacrilege to Gem to take Dido and mix her voice with so much bass and rhythm.

Gem looked around at the other people around her including Mia and Cindy and started to try and ape their movements with their hips and arms. After a moment it didn't matter if she thought she could dance or not. There wasn't a lot to what she was expected to do to fit in. If she just almost slunk in place with her eyes half closed she looked like at least half the other girls in the place.

Before she knew it last call had been announced and they started to make their way to the door, hoping to avoid some of the last minute, closing crowd crush. They got out of the club mostly without a fuss and headed home.

"That wasn't so bad." Gem admitted as she lounged, half asleep in the passenger seat of her car.

"No, it was pretty cool." Doug agreed.

Gem turned around in her seat to share a look with Mia. That meant that Vince and Doug had sat at the same table for at least two hours and neither had killed the other. And they had gotten along well enough that the evening had still been 'cool'. Gem shrugged and flopped back in her seat again. She was tired out.

When they got back to the house Gem lead the way up to the front door. Nick's bike wasn't home. Doug didn't follow them up to the house.

"I'm just going to head home. See you guys tomorrow."

"Ok, night." Gem called softly back, not wanting to wake up her parents.

Doug waved once more before he got into his Corolla and backed down the driveway. The rest of the group headed into the house. Vince went into his borrowed room as Gem and Mia pushed quietly into Gem's room.

"That was actually fun." Gem admitted as she flopped tiredly onto her bed and pulled off her boots.

"Yeah it was. I had a good time. Your friend Cindy is cool."

"She always was cooler than me. The more daring one too."

"I don't know about more cool. You're pretty cool yourself Gem Davis."

"Thanks Mia. It means a lot that you think so."

The girls went to bed, both falling asleep quickly.

♫

Gem slept deeply and well. That was why it came as a huge surprise when she woke up at six am and was unable to go back to sleep. She got out of bed with a sigh, pulling on a pair of velour yoga pants and a tank top before heading out into the hall. She made for the window at the end of the hall and climbed out it before pulling herself up onto the roof. It was a place she had spent many mornings watching the sun come up as she dreamed about where she was going when she grew up.

Now here she was, grown up. Or at least on her way there, and doing one of the things she had dreamed of up on that same roof. But things weren't quite the smooth process she'd dreamed of on the roof in the early mornings before high school days. There had never been a day job in a bar or café in that dream. She had simply been plucked from the suburbs straight into musical stardom. As she shimmied up onto the roof she did a double take.

Nick was sitting on the peak of the roof with a cup of coffee in his hands.

"What are you doing up?" She asked him.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I just woke up and couldn't sleep anymore. I use to come up here all the time to think and watch the sunrise."

"I just couldn't sleep. I think it just now hit me that I'm moving away. There's so much here I don't want to leave, but there's so much waiting for me if I do this thing."

"I know what you mean."

"How'd you do it sis? I mean, mom and dad and Doug aren't even trying to convince me not to do it like they were you and I'm still having second thoughts about moving away. I mean, I'm old enough to be out in my own place at the very least but here I am nervous about a six week course a state away and being out of my parent's house for the first time."

"I wasn't easy to leave but it was just something I had to do." Gem plunked down beside her brother and took his cup, taking a few sips before giving it back. They had always been the same when it came to coffee: both hardly drank it and both liked it with lots of cream and sugar. "At least you get to come home with a future you want. Had I stayed the only future I had waiting was working with mom and dad every day for the rest of my life."

"You could still go back to school."

"I don't want to go to school. School can't teach me to play my bass better than I do or to sing better than I do. If I could hook up with a good music producer I'm sure I could learn to write my songs better and write my music better but I don't need to learn how to do any of it more technically and that's all a college music education could teach me."

"You could do something else so you'd have something to fall back on."

"I could but I don't want to. Why bother doing it when it's not what I want? I'd rather work in the Cobalt as a waitress for the rest of my life and at least be close to music than get an education and make good money as a paralegal or medical office assistant. I mean, does it sound like a good idea to you for you to go and become a mechanic so that if you ever can't fly planes anymore you'll have something to fall back on?"

"Flying is all I ever wanted to do."

"Singing is all I ever wanted to do. I guess it's a family trait. Do you think Doug always wanted to practise law? Was it always his first and only choice?"

"I think so. Doug tries to control the world via the law. It's how he keeps himself feeling like he has control over what happens to him and those around him. When he really gets into the law and the justice system I think a lot of his beliefs are going to take a beating."

Gem nodded her understanding. There was no controlling the law. The law controlled a lot of the people who tried to practise it instead. It wasn't always fair and didn't always follow the rules. Money could equal justice and she wasn't always blind. Doug had proved that himself with his snap judgments. Gem decided to let it go. It wasn't right to talk about Doug when he wasn't there to defend himself, even if his position wasn't defendable. "So, you and Cindy. How did that come about?"

"I dunno really. I ran into her one day after she got home from visiting you and she looked like hell. We started talking, about you as a matter of fact, and once we started we talked for hours."

"Talking is something Cindy does rather well. And at a significant speed as a matter of fact."

Nick chuckled. "That's true. I don't know how we ended up dating or where I think its going." He turned to Gem. "I fought against it. I just want you to know that. I didn't want to get involved with your friend when I didn't know where it was going. I don't want what happens or doesn't happen between me and Cindy to mess up your friendship with her."

"As long as you treat her with respect and honesty I'm sure that will never happen Nick."

"I sure hope not." It was Nick's turn to change the subject. "So, you and Vince, that seems serious huh?"

"I hope so. And I don't want it to mess up my friendship with Mia. It's complicated. He's." She paused to collect her thoughts. "Well, he's Vince. I never met a guy like him. There was some stuff that went down, the stuff that Doug started to dig up and it made him something he never would have been otherwise. He doesn't trust easily. He looks for the hidden motivation behind everything everyone ever does. I guess he was always like that, but it's worse now. Then there's another side to him that he's too embarrassed to even acknowledge. He hired this kid named Cory to work in his shop because no one else would because Cory got in trouble with the cops when he was younger."

"Sounds like a real prince."

Had Nick's tone been sarcastic or facetious Gem would have taken it personal on Vince's behalf. Since her brother was being serious she smiled instead. "He is."

"Well, since we're both up at this god awful hour what do you say to some breakfast while we wait for your friends to wake up?"

"Sounds great. What are you making me?"

Nick stood up and slid to the edge of the roof before climbing down onto the porch roof and turning back to help Gem down with him. "How 'bout pancakes?" He went through the window first and helped Gem through.

"Sounds great." The headed down to the kitchen together and started breakfast.

Gem looked up from mixing pancake batter at her brother's laugh. "You got flour all over you. I mean all over." Nick said before he totally lost it laughing.

"You think that's funny do you?"

"Yeah, it's even on the end of your nose."

"That is funny." Gem said. Nick missed her hand moving toward the bag of flour. He never saw it coming until there was a handful of flour in his face. His sputtering blew it off all over the place. "But not as funny as that."

"That was uncalled for!" Nick looked around for something to retaliate with. Gem was lucky her mother walked into the kitchen just then.

"What is this, a war zone?"

"Nick was supposed to cook but he put me to work at it instead."

"Hey, I'm making the eggs and the bacon. The least you can do is make the pancakes."

"You two remind me of when you were kids. If I hadn't been the one to birth you both I'd swear you were twins. There were so many Gem and Nick tried to make breakfast cooking fiascos."

"It's so hard to imagine with the parents we have." Gem said to her mother.

"Sucking up, in this case will get you everything you want. I'll finish breakfast so that my kitchen doesn't get any more destroyed than it is already."

"Thanks mom, you're a peach."

Suzette looked around the room. "Did you throw flour at your brother?" She asked incredulously.

"Maybe just a little." Gem answered, looking contrite with her thumb and finger held a small distance apart. "He started it with a comment on my nose."

"The two of you are supposed to be adults now, moved or moving out of my house and doing your own thing. You're too old to have fights with flour in the kitchen." She took another look at the damage. "Especially this early in the morning."

"What are you going to do with all your chicks out of the nest?" Gem asked.

"I haven't figured that out yet. Maybe I'll take up a hobby."

"Like cooking?" Nick asked, cocking one eyebrow questioningly.

"Or like butt kicking." Suzette brandished her rubber spatula threatening. "Gem, will your friends be up for breakfast?"

"Maybe. They both get up pretty early at home most days for work."

"We'll cook enough for everyone then."

"Where's pop?"

"Getting a shower. He'll be down shortly."

"I'm right here." Giancarlo said as he entered the sunny kitchen. He kissed his wife and each of his children on the cheek in turn. "So, I gather we're having a family breakfast together for perhaps the last time?"

"Don't be so melodramatic dad. There will be Christmases and Easters. We'll all be home to visit at the same time." Gem said.

"Perhaps, but after this weekend all of our children will have new places to call home."

"Doug just lives ten minutes away. It's not like Nick is never coming back to San Francisco either."

"I know, but it will never be the same as having you all live here with us."

Gem gave up, throwing her hands into the air and turning to where her mother was flipping the first six pancakes. "I'm going to go get Mia."

"Ok dear."

Gem walked up the stairs and into her room. Mia was still sleeping. Gem felt a little revenge for all the Sundays she had been woken up to attend church with her. She flopped on the bed with a loud sigh and looked pointedly at the clock. Mia woke up with a groan.

"What time is it?"

"Eight."

"Oh my god, why are you up this early?" Mia whined.

"Because my mom is cooking breakfast and we're going to eat it. Then we're going sight seeing. We've got the Golden Gate to see, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Park, I want to ride the cable cars with you guys, see Chinatown, shop Union Square, there's so much I want to do."

"This is only one day Gem. How are we going to do all that stuff?"

"Well, we're never going to do any of it if you sleep all day."

"Point made. Go wake up Vince. He's not getting out of this if I have to get up."

"Ok, just get ready because breakfast will be any time now."

"Ok." Mia got out of bed and headed for the bathroom as Gem moved across the hall and knocked softly on Vince's door. He didn't answer so she pushed into the room.

After waking up a very cranky Vince, who was never much of a morning person to begin with, Gem got in the shower and got dressed. Once Mia and Vince were both ready they moved down the stairs en mass. After they ate they left and started out on a very full day of sight seeing and shopping that had Vince loaded down like a pack mule by the end of the day.

♫

The rest of their time in San Francisco when by swiftly. They got to see all the sights Gem wanted to but it took most of Sunday as well. Nick went with them on Sunday, as did Cindy and Doug.

Doug seemed to have unbent considerably and even he and Vince mostly got along. The path wasn't without a few bumps but it was far better than it had been. They ate an early supper at Gem's house on Sunday and then Mia decided it was time to head for home.

"The store won't open itself, and Gem, you're going to have to learn how to open it soon. Mornings are when most of my classes are."

Gem groaned, "You're telling me to get up with you tomorrow aren't you."

"Yeah," Mia confirmed. "You've got to learn it sometime."

"Ok, I guess we should go then."

They gathered their packed bags and moved for the door. Giancarlo and Suzette followed them to the door, as did Nick and Doug, who had also come for supper and to participate in one of the last times the family would ever be all together.

As Gem hugged her parents and brothers on her way out the door it finally dawned on her that, much as she said she could always come home again she couldn't really. Not home to the house she knew in the way she had known it.

Things were never going to be the same again. Her brothers were both grown men, and finally both had moved out of the house they grew up in. If she went home now it would be just her and her folks. There would be no more Nick to lighten the mood and Doug to fight her battles for her, to try and act like another father to her.

Things were already different. Doug living elsewhere. The family dog getting old and slowing down. Nick moving on. The home life she had known was already no more. Someday soon Doug would find a woman who could put up with him and because he was Doug he would settle down, buy a house of his own, have kids. Nick already had a girlfriend and was well on his way to a career that would consume his life. Her mother and father seemed to be taking it all in stride. Soon they would grow accustomed to the empty house and doing what they felt like whenever they felt like doing it.

Her life as she knew it was no more. There was going forward. If she went back it wouldn't be to the life she'd left. It would be more like going forward in a different way. The childhood she had grown up in was over, irrevocably. It had all become so clear to her so swiftly. With that on her mind she turned back to Nick and threw herself at him again, trying not to cry. He caught her against his chest with a soft, startled noise.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she answered in a mumble. "I'll miss you."

"I'm not going that far from you Gem. We'll see each other again."

"I'll never be the same. You can't go back again Nick."

When the truth of her words sank in and all her revelations became his as well his grip on her tightened. "I'll keep in touch."

"You better."

"I'll call you next week," Doug said as he took his sister into his own hug for the second time. "I have some business in Los Angeles and maybe we'll get some lunch while I'm there."

"Sure," Gem answered. She shared a second hug with both her mother and father before she finally walked out the door behind Vince and Mia. She paused on the walkway down to the car and looked back over her shoulder. A single tear slid down her cheek. Things would never be the same again. As much as she knew the life she was going forward toward was going to be all she could make of it, a part of her still longed to be a child in her mother's arms for the rest of her life. Longed to be a little girl in pigtails chasing her dog around the house, chasing her brothers around the neighbourhood as they did 'boy' things. It felt like her world had tilted to the side and she was in danger of sliding right off of it into a great abyss of unknown.

"Gem, you ok?" Mia called back to her once she realized Gem wasn't following right behind them.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered and looked away from the brightly lit, welcoming house of her upbringing. Stopped looking backward and turned toward the future again before climbing into the passenger seat of the car. _Or at least I hope I will be._

♫

Vince sensed Gem's melancholy mood on the way home. He didn't know what had made her sad so he felt helpless to make her feel better. So instead he allowed the mood in the car to become quiet and introspective. He felt consumed with his own thoughts.

Gem's parents hadn't looked at him as unworthy. He had put himself through a lot of headache for no good reason. With their acceptance came a flood of memories of situations where someone else had convinced him that he was going to be found wanting before anything was ever said.

It had happened so many times he'd simply come to believe it was true. And over time he'd stopped needing the other person to do the convincing. He did that job very well on his own, thank you very much.

But other than Doug, who he really had expected worse things out of, no one had a bad thing to say. Gem's family had mostly seemed upset she hadn't thought to turn to them for help with her car situation instead of a 'stranger'. Over the course of the few days they'd had with him they had seemed to realize that he wasn't a stranger to Gem any longer. And with that realization had come acceptance of his role in her life.

Even Doug had seemed to unwind a bit more toward him. Not that he cared, mind, but it was still nice to know for Gem's sake they wouldn't always be fighting. Or that was what he was going to keep telling himself at any rate. He told himself that he'd look at how good it felt to be accepted into a group he hadn't been a part of since childhood on his own merits later. He knew that thinking about caring what other people thought of him would make him uncomfortable.

He realized that Mia had fallen asleep but that Gem was still awake, looking out the side window. He could see her face reflected on the glass and she didn't look happy. "You sure you're ok?"

"Yes," She seemed to think for a moment. "But it's, well," another pause followed and she looked like she was still trying to put her thoughts into words. "It's bittersweet."

He knew only too well what she meant. The past was over, the future looked like it could be bright. But the past was familiar and the familiar was sweet. What was to come could be better, but it could be worse too. You had to take it on faith that what was to come wouldn't make you wish you had a time machine. And if it did the only thing you could do was find the strength to persevere. He reached out through the dimly lit cabin of the car and took her hand into his own before resting their clasped hands on his thigh. Did he ever know what she meant.

The fact that making sure her future was a bright as her past seemed to fall at least partially to him didn't go over his head. Realizing that anyone's happiness and wellbeing depended on him was never an easy revelation to swallow. He never felt ready for the responsibility. But for Gem, it was a role he was going to have to take. The alternative, not having her at all, just didn't bear thinking about.

♫

The next thing Gem realized occurred because Vince was picking her up out of the car. "I guess I fell asleep, huh?" She murmured.

"You and Mia both," he replied. "It was a busy weekend."

"I had a nice time."

"Me too," he answered and was surprised to see he meant it.

"Where is Mia?"

"I already got her up. She's in bed by now. I've been moving our stuff into the house so I could let you sleep."

"The stuff could have waited in the car until tomorrow."

"Maybe, but then it woulda had to stay in the car all day. You gotta get up with Mia in the morning to go to work with her, remember?"

"Don't remind me," she moaned. Why had she ever said she'd do this thing for Mia? She had gotten use to being a late sleeper.

"Ok I won't. Until I'm waking you up with me tomorrow instead of letting you sleep in," he chuckled.

"That counts as reminding me," she admonished as she allowed herself to be carried into the house and down the stairs. "Now I have to get up and go upstairs," she whined, "all my clothes are up there."

"I brought your suitcase down here so you should be ok," he answered.

After going to the bathroom to get ready for bed Gem crawled between the sheets, the cool, silky feeling of them making her start to drift off again almost instantly. She stayed in that state of half consciousness longer than she would have liked, dwelling on the realizations of the day before sleep finally claimed her.

She woke up the next day when Vince shook her to consciousness. "Time to get up."

"Is it a co-incidence the first time I've ever seen you happy in the mornings is the first morning I have to get up at this ungodly hour?"

"Nope, it's no co-incidence. It's great that it's finally someone else's turn to get up early and not want to."

"Shut up," Gem mumbled as she walked out of the room and dragged herself up the stairs to shower and dress for the day. She found Mia walking out of the bathroom as she was about to walk in.

"Good morning!" Mia chirped happily.

"Shut up," Gem growled.

Mia, sensing there was no meanness to the comment, even if Gem wasn't happy about being awake so early, kept smiling. "You'll be happier after a nice hot shower."

"You better hope I am," Gem said as she shut the bathroom door in Mia's smiling face and tumbled the lock over with a distinct click. By the time she was showered and dressed for the day she did feel better. She had also more or less decided not to let on to that fact. She moved back down the stairs to the kitchen and for the first time she could remember in recent history helped herself to a cup of the coffee that started to drip for Vince and Mia on a timer every morning. She added cream and sugar before sitting at the table and pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

"All ready for a full day of making sandwiches?" Mia asked playfully.

Gem just gave her a look with one side of her nose raised in a sneer of sarcasm.

"Guess so," Vince answered Mia's question, chuckling at the look on Gem's face. "Have fun girls. See you tonight for supper?"

"If I don't kill her cheerfulness over the course of today."

"I'm sure it won't come to that," Vince said before leaning over and giving Gem a casual kiss on the mouth before walking out the door for work.

"You ready to head down to the café? Mia asked after a moment.

"As I'll ever be," Gem answered after draining the last mouthful of coffee from her cup. She was starting to feel more human and decided to stop snapping at Mia.

"Ok, let's go. Your car or mine?"

"Either way," Gem answered. She didn't really mind.

"Yours it is. Then if you want to take some lunch to the boys you'll have it."

"I won't be able to take off and bring them lunch later this week when you're in school and I'm there alone."

"I'm mostly done by eleven. There are a few days you'll be here alone all day but mostly I'll come relieve you by twelve. And if it gets to be too much we'll just have to hire someone part time. That might be an idea anyway because we use to stay open until eight at night to cater to the convenience store crowd but that got to be too much on my own."

"I can see how it would."

"I could do it again now that I won't be here all day long by myself but that would leave Vince at home alone a lot. I don't know how well he'd do fending on his own for every meal."

"Me neither," Gem answered. He'd eat a lot of take out and a lot of microwave food, she knew.

The day went by swiftly. Since Mia was still going to do the books and inventory on her own, Gem's job wasn't so hard. Take orders, make sandwiches, take money, make change. It was all stuff she had no trouble doing. On days when Mia wasn't coming in at all she had to lock up but that wasn't a very hard procedure at Toretto's café. Mia taught her pretty much all she had to know in the one day. It wasn't even as hard as a job at McDonald's because it wasn't all that busy. They caught a few rushes but it was never steady for more than an hour at a time.

It was clear that during the downtime she would have lots of time to read or work on her songs. There was only so much cleaning the little store could take before it was all done. She resolved to remind Barry about her decreasing hours in case he had forgotten. It had been a while since they'd talked about it.

It was easy to see that she wasn't going to have any troubles adapting to her new routine. For the most part she would simply be working on her music in the hot little store instead of in the house. Her song for the week had started to form in her mind already. All that was left was to put it to paper and compose the music to accompany it.

She got up on Tuesday again with Mia and went to work with her again. Her brother called her to tell her he had made it to Nevada safely and was settling in to his barracks. Gem then called Cindy to make sure her friend was ok and to make a standing offer to her to come visit in L.A. any time she got lonely or felt like taking a drive.

She met Doug for lunch on Tuesday as well and they had a nice time. Gem was surprised that the conversation never got heated once, despite the fact they talked about some topics that would have set Doug off in the past. She begged off the afternoon with Mia and went home to work on the song. She had a desire to get it down and out.

She was struggling with some of the score on Wednesday so she called Tamica and met her friend at her house to see if they could iron it out.

"See, I want it to start out with a little piano intro but I figure out which notes to use."

Tamica looked at what was already written. "That's ok, but what if we make this c a g instead?" She played the line her way.

"That's ok," Gem said, still contemplating whether that was right or not yet. "What if we changed this note here, held it longer and made the whole thing an octave higher?"

Tamica moved her hands and played the line yet again, holding the one note a quarter longer.

"That's it," Gem said happily once she had heard it. "That's how I have it in my head."

"Good, I hope there's more than the one perfect line done though."

"The song is written. It was just that intro giving me trouble. It's a pretty simple song but I hope it will go over well."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. What are you doing now?"

"Killing time until I have to work at seven."

"Want to go get a latte? I have a break from classes today anyway."

"Sure."

It was late when Gem got home for supper. She ate with a hurried apology for Mia and Vince for mostly missing supper before she dashed out the door on her way to work. She was run off her feet all night. The college kids felt the end of their summer vacation coming swiftly and were trying to cram all the partying they thought they had missed all summer into one week of freedom. Not that classes would curtail the habits of many of them. Gem knew they would definitely change Mia's habits. It was good to know that they could afford to live if Gem had to quit the Cobalt.

If Mia and Vince had been surviving on what they made before than they could survive on it again if Gem couldn't swing doing both jobs. What she would do for spending money she didn't know, but at least they'd still have a roof and food to eat. In the end, Gem figured she'd rather hire someone part time than quit her job. She liked her independence a bit too much. Letting Vince give her a car was one thing, in Vince's world there was no better gift than a car. Letting him support her by giving her money to buy clothes and gas was another thing altogether.

She got home from work so tired she passed out in her own bed. She didn't even have it in her to walk down two flights of stairs. She would be glad when the kids went back to school.

The bar was packed on Thursday too. The lead up to the last weekend of the summer was building. Gem knew that Friday and Saturday were going to be crazy. But then it would all fall off as though someone had thrown a switch. The crowd was thicker than anything she'd ever seen as she waited tables, waiting for the minute she could take off to go back stage and get ready.

Mia and Vince had luckily arrived early and gotten their usual table. Gem caught the movement out of the corner of her eye as Vince headed to the green room. She dropped off her last tray of drinks and started off behind him, untying her apron as she went. She didn't see the man move around the bar and sit down with Mia due to her focus on not walking on the toes of any of the people crowded into the bar and in her way.

She pushed into the green room and closed the door, leaning against it with a grateful sigh. "That is one crazy crowd!" she said as she moved toward Vince.

"It's pretty packed," he answered. "I don't like the look of some of them. I think I'll come back tonight and walk you to your car."

"I don't think it's that bad," Gem answered, looking up into his face.

"Doesn't matter. I'm following you home tonight."

"That's sweet and all, but maybe we should focus on getting ready to go on right now. Then you two can fight over your plans after the fact."

"Shesh that's cold Tamica," Gem said with a grin. "It's all about you and you getting your stage time. My safety means nothing."

"The boy said he'd come back for you. That sounds pretty safe. Let's get this show on the road."

"Ok, Elliott, you're a little in the dark because you didn't get to see the music yet."

"And everyone else did? I'm crushed!"

"Well she needed Tamica's help with the piano lines," Vince offered.

"And she sleeps in the same bed as him," Tamica said with a smirk. "So you know he's getting a preview."

Elliott laughed as Gem blushed. "That's not why he gets a preview," Gem realized how her comment sounded after it left her mouth. She blushed deeper.

"Umkay."

Their names came over the greenroom speaker. They moved to answer the call as Celeste walked in. She took in the way Vince had his hand in the small of Gem's back and looked away with her nose in the air. She didn't have anything to say, for once.

"That's what I thought," Elliott muttered to Tamica on the way out the door.

They climbed on stage and hooked up their instruments. Gem and Vince both noticed there was someone sitting with Mia but at this late stage of the game really couldn't go check it out.

Tamica played her opening piano line. On the last note of it Gem broke in with her bass a few notes before she began to sing. "_On the ground with my world upside down I got a vision of your face. And I must get me out for all the memories we've yet to make_."

The song was slow with rich accompaniment. The previously rowdy crowd seemed to calm as they listened to the melodious sound of Gem's voice.

"_God don't send to me your angels, I just wanna hear you say again."_

The drum line and guitar started with the chorus.

"_Forever love say your love. Digame. Digame. Tell me so I can hold you in my soul. If I go I'll know._

"_When you smile with those eyes, baby it's like you place a finger on my heart. And your lips next to mine make me think that maybe heavens where you are_."

♫

His baby sister was all grown up. He'd realized it at his parent's house over the weekend but watching her sing about something so adult with emotions that showed she had experienced what she was singing, and wasn't just parroting back things she had heard really drove it home.

Whether she had admitted it out loud or not she was in love. And whether the object of that love had admitted it to himself or knew of her love, he was also in love with Gem.

Doug happened to glance over at Mia as a tear ran down her cheek.

"_God don't send to me your angels. I just wanna hear you say again. Forever love. Say it love. Digame. Digame_."

"Are you ok?" he asked in a whisper as he leaned over.

"Fine. I just wish that I had someone to feel like that about."

"You will someday. Someone as pretty and smart as you."

Mia smiled. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better," she wiped off her cheek and sniffled. "I just wish it didn't sound like she was trying to convince herself that she'll have enough memories of us for when she goes away to follow her career."

"On thing my sister will never do is abandon a friend. Count on it."

"_Tell me so I can hold you in my soul. And if I go, I'll know. Forever love. Say it love._

_Digame. Digame. Tell me so I can hold you in my soul and If I go I'll know_."

♫

The chorus repeated a few more times. When the last note of the song died off it was like the audience woke up from a trance. They clapped enthusiastically before going back to the way they had been before Indigo Sound took the stage. They again became loud and rambunctious.

Doug couldn't get over the way his sister had held them in thrall. There was a performer in her. For the first time ever he became confident that she would make it. When she came back to the table she seemed happy to see him. Things felt good, better than they had in a long time.

Mia was glad to see Gem and her brother getting along. She was glad to see Vince could be around Doug and not start a fight.

Mia was just glad. Everything was going so well. She was back in school. Vince was alive and he seemed really happy. Gem was good for both of them and her success was good for her. Her relationship with her brother was going well. Everything was looking so bright when such a short time ago it had looked so grim.

Things couldn't help but be smooth from here on out.

♫


	9. Wreck of the Day

**AN: I heard Anna's song 'In the Rough' on the radio today and it was way different than the copy I have. The one I have has really clear bass lines and Anna's voice is the main element. She has a very beautiful, complex voice and very emotionally complex lyrics. I think the song works better as I have it than as it is on radio play so, for the purposes of this story, the songs are the much simpler version rather than the 'remixed' or 'redone' versions that may be playing on a radio near you. Only three songs left. If you have Anna's album you know they are Consider this, In the Rough, and Catalyst. There's some food for thought about what's to come in this story, no? I feel it necessary to explain a little bit why I never update anymore. My life has been pretty bad lately. I work all the time. This does have one side benefit. I don't have time to sit around and be sorry for myself. So, until I work through more of what I'm going through I'm going to keep being lazy and not feeling much like writing. I'm sorry. The story is long, sad and personal so I won't go into it. Thanks for the patience folks. Ciao, Tempest**

**Catalyst**

By – _TempestRaces_

Chapter 9 – **Wreck of the Day**

_**A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.**_

William Shedd

_What a night_, Gem mused as she walked out the door of the Cobalt at the end of her Saturday shift. As was so often the case when they got a popular band in the bar had been packed solid, wall to wall bodies, and Gem had been run off her feet. It was so bad that Barry had even called his new girl in a few nights early to help out. Gem's new hours started on Monday as did Mia's return to school.

Gem slid into her car with a weary sigh and started the engine. She put the shifter in first and started out of the parking lot. She could practically hear her bed calling her name. She wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep. She didn't even have the fact she was off for the next two days to look forward to, given that on Monday morning she was going to have to get up and go to Toretto's to work for Mia. She pulled a face at the thought of it.

Maybe sometime soon they'd be able to afford to hire someone to cover some of the time so that she could go back to work at the Cobalt full time and Mia could go to school full time and neither of them would have to worry about the café. It wasn't Gem's first choice of jobs, and she did wonder what they were going to do if she did get asked to sing at times that would interfere with her shifts. Mia understood that her music still came first, but the last thing Gem wanted was for Mia to loose out on her chance to go back to classes.

Perhaps an education wasn't something she wanted for herself but she did want it for Mia very much. It was simply because it was apparent it was something Mia also wanted for herself a great deal. If she had a good education she would never be so dependant on other people again. But it was going to be a long road for Mia, and Gem knew it. Her chosen occupation wasn't an easy one to pursue.

It eased her mind to know that Vince would work his fingers to the bone to see them both succeed, now that he had fully regained participation in the world of the living. It was already fairly clear he was pushing himself as well as Cory and Bill harder to bring more cars into the garage each day. He had confided that they were now busier than Dominic had ever been. But all that extra business meant extra hours. There was talk that it might even mean needing an extra pair of hands. Gem didn't know if she should be happy he wanted to make sure they had enough money to survive with the same amount of money coming in as they'd always had but with Mia's tuition to pay for, or upset that he was likely thinking that she and Mia couldn't pull off all the hours their new lives were going to require of them and he was going to need to step up to the plate to pick up the slack.

Instinct told her that wasn't why he was doing it at the same time as her innate insecurities forced the idea that he just might be into her head.

She turned onto their street and yawned, already half asleep. She didn't know how well she was going to be able to cope when her weeks got even longer. At least Mia had gotten her schedule back finalized and most days she was done and ready to start working herself at lunch time. That wasn't the case on Mondays, when she had classes all day long. It was also going to be mid afternoon before she got out of classes on Wednesdays. And Gem knew, as much as Mia didn't want to think about it or allow her to think about it right now, there would be times when she would have to stay late or stay for study groups with her peers.

And none of that changed the fact that even with the financial aid Mia had managed to get there was no way they could afford all the bills they had if Gem didn't keep her job at the Cobalt. She was going to be working thirty hours a week for Barry and another twenty at least for Mia. The only things that kept her from wailing about it were thinking of the fact Mia was going to make something of herself and knowing Vince would easily put in sixty hour weeks at the garage himself. That Mia would go to class all morning every day and work every other hour she had to just to support herself, and to help support their home.

They were all going to have to make sacrifices. All they could do was keep focused on the fact that in the end it would be worth it. When Mia started her third year rotations she would start making some money, would be called a doctor, and then things would get easier for everyone else. And that was when she would start having time to see Vince again, she thought with a wry smile, because for the next few years it sure looked like he would be working all day, she would be working half the days and most of the nights and the only times they would get to see each other was on the few days she got to bring the boys lunch and when she slipped into bed with him at night, struggling not to wake him, knowing he had to get up early the next morning.

Sometimes when she really thought about the long road ahead it really got her down. Mia was on the way toward her dream. So when was it going to be her own turn? Where was the record producer with a nice contract for a record deal in his hands that haunted her dreams? She was here in L.A., singing her own songs. Finally she was writing songs, something she'd always dreamed of and had never been able to do. She had a band, a group of her closest friends at that and they were all talented. She knew they sounded great together. They were cohesive, on the same wavelength. But still, no one had come along to make all her dreams reality. And she was slowly starting to face the reality that no one ever might. But why not, she railed at fate. If other people made it, people who didn't sound as good live as she and her band did, than why couldn't they make it too? It just wasn't fair.

And when it all hit her at the same time she still couldn't totally subdue the panic that overtook her. What if she worked her hardest the next four or five years to keep Mia in school and kept writing her own songs until she had an anthology of them and no one ever offered her a chance to play them on a real stage? What if for her the Cobalt was a good as it got? What then? Could she be content to end up like Barbara? In her early fifties, still slinging drinks at the club and singing for nothing but applause every Thursday night. Could she be content without cheering crowds and autograph seekers? Without stages and sound studios. Could a life not unlike that of her mother be enough for her? Could she be content to be a good wife to Vince and perhaps a good mother to some children who would grow up in the same sort of middle class neighbourhood she had, with parents they hardly ever saw because in order to give them the stable life they needed with all the things their parents thought they had to have they had to work long hours for the money.

In her brain the answer was yes. Vince would run his garage, she would work for Barry in his bar and they would come home to each other every night and the knowledge that their sacrifices had made it possible for Mia, who did so much for everyone in her life, to have the one thing she really wanted. If neither of them realized their fondest dreams at the very least they would find contentment in how they lived the lives they did have. They would find contentment in each other. It would be enough, to her logical mind.

Her heart wasn't so sure. Her heart wanted to make records, sing songs on stage all over the country, the world. Share the lessons her life had taught her through her songs and her music. Her heart, no matter how much it wanted Vince in her life, just couldn't be convinced he wanted to be around for the long haul. He didn't seem like the kind of man who could be content to come home to the same old same night after night.

He didn't like running the garage. He didn't really want to play for her band on stage and in the public eye. Gem wasn't really sure what Vince wanted for the rest of his life. Any attempts to talk about it always ended with two eventualities. Vince either clamed up or said that all he wanted was for her and Mia to be happy. That when the girls were both happy he would be happy too. Whether that meant he was going to run the garage for the rest of his life so they could have the backing they needed to live the lives they wanted or if that meant he ended up driving long haul trucks again because no one wanted him around, as long as they were content he would be too.

Gem knew that was a load of horse shit. She was fairly sure that Vince just didn't know what he wanted and didn't know how to put his dreams for the future into words so he said he didn't have any instead. His dreams might also seem unattainable to him so he convinced himself he didn't have any, hoping to avoid disappointment. One of his dreams was to see Mia finish her schooling, that much was true. But Gem wasn't so sure that outlook extended to seeing her make it as a singer. Sometimes when she turned her head at night as she was sitting on the couch with Vince watching TV she would catch him staring at _her_ and not the screen. And when she did, the thoughts in his head were almost palpable. He was concerned that if–when-she got her big break she'd leave him and never look back. Knowing that would never happen, more concerning to her were thoughts that she wouldn't have a choice, that he wouldn't give her one. That he would take her choice away and push her into whatever he thought was best for her in the long run.

Gem worried that if the opportunity came for her to have her record deal he would encourage her to take the shot but then want nothing more to do with her for abandoning him as so many others in his life had. Since he wouldn't go with her, if she left without him, he might see that as the same kind of treatment he had gotten from Leon, Dom and Letty. Abandoning him in his time of need. Leaving him alone in the dark again. Especially with Mia moving on.

She didn't have the words to tell him that what she wanted more than anything else was to find out he'd changed his mind and that if Indigo Sound made it big and got a contract to produce an album, tour to promote it, that he wanted to come too and play the guitar. That playing in the band was no longer something he did because she needed him to but because he needed to-wanted to-himself. That at all costs he just wanted to be close to her too, share in something that was the second most important thing in her life. She didn't even try to kid herself that Vince and Mia and their ragtag little family didn't come first now.

It was just that she didn't know if dear, steady yet volatile Vince had it in him to want something like that for himself, let alone admit it to someone else that he did. And so where did that leave them? With her wishing to both make it big and keep him by her side, and him sure that the last thing he wanted was a reason to leave home, such as it was. As all the uncertainty swirled around her head she pulled into their driveway with a sigh and put her head down on the wheel.

_Breathe, just breathe._

In and out she took deep breaths, just looking to calm her racing mind and steady her racing pulse. Worrying about the future wouldn't get her anywhere and she knew it. The future would come rushing at her whether she was ready to meet it or not so there was no sense panicking over it. She should have gotten out a long time ago, before she got so attached, put down roots and made so many memories. Now nothing that happened was going to be simple. Not like it would have been if she had just been a girl alone in a boarding house. Now she had a family, odd and unconventional as it was and she had other people to worry about. Their wants, needs and feelings to consider. There was no packing up and leaving without thought or guilt now.

She lifted her head off the wheel and moved to slide out of the car, knowing she was going to go to her room, change into her most comfortable PJs and head straight down to the comforting warmth of Vince's bed and presence. She was too unsettled not to. The bulk of his body and soft noise of his deep breathing would calm her nerves and things would look better in the morning.

She slid off the leather seat and stood on weary legs before starting up the walk to the front door. As reached the front steps she looked up at the house. With a groan she realized every light in the downstairs floor of the house was on.

"Oh shit," she breathed out, the curse word leaving her lips causing her cheeks to heat up. The lights on meant they were fighting again. Tonight, that was the very last thing she needed, the very worst thing she could have come home to. Or so she thought at the time.

She was glad looking back a few moments later that as she walked up those steps she didn't know just how much worse things could get, because if she had she would have abandoned all her possessions in the house and simply took off, trying to convince herself that her car and guitar, which was in the trunk, were all she needed to start over elsewhere. Had she known there would have been no way to force her arm to reach out and turn the doorknob as she did. There would have been no way that she would have forced herself to step up into the house and kick her shoes off.

She was very aware that all noise in the house had seized with her entrance into the hall. She kicked off her shoes wearily and rubbed her eyes. Just thinking of going to play mediator between Vince and Mia made her want to cry. All she wanted was to curl up with Vince in the dark and get some sleep. She didn't want to be angry with him and she nearly always ended up being forced to take Mia's side in their fights because Vince was nearly always the one at fault, the one who couldn't find it in himself to be reasonable.

She started down the hall toward the kitchen at the back of the house. The sight of Mia and Vince standing side by side brought her up short. Mia was crying, that much was true, but she sure wasn't crying because of anything Vince had done. Not if you counted the fact he was standing by her side, staring belligerently at something on the other side of the kitchen, something she couldn't yet see.

Were they being robbed? Gem found herself caught in the hall, her indecision rooting her to the spot. Clearly, whomever Vince was staring at didn't know she was in the house yet because no one had looked her way. She could get to a phone and call 9-1-1 before anyone ever even knew she was there. But why was Vince just standing there looking angry if he was being robbed? Wouldn't hot headed Vince be fighting back? She felt like a deer caught in the bright lights of a truck. Should she run and get help or was there something else she could do?

She thought about it and decided the best thing she could do was call for backup and started to back silently down the hall. Mia looked up and looked right at her. _Don't give me away Mia_, Gem thought franticly. If Mia gave away her position she'd never make it to a phone and they'd all be trapped.

It seemed that Mia was not much of a mind reader. "Oh Gem, thank god you're home," Mia wailed and launched herself out of the kitchen, rushing down the hall. Gem caught Mia in a hug on instinct.

"What is going on?" Gem asked in a hushed tone.

"Vince and I were just watching TV tonight, about to go to bed when he just waltzed in," Mia's voice caught on a sob. "Just walked in like he owned the place," she finished before breaking down into hysterical crying.

"Who?" Gem asked, almost frantic. Was Vince in trouble? Who was in the kitchen? Mia was either unwilling or unable to answer so Gem started toward the doorway of the room, tugging the still crying Mia with her. "Vince?" She called softly from the doorway, still unable to see who was across the kitchen room from him. "Is everything ok?"

"Fine," he muttered. It was obvious things were anything but.

Gem took another step forward. She was now fully in the kitchen. The harshness of the overhead lights and the florescent light over the sink all being on in the inky blackness of the night outside made everything in the room seem almost surreal. Standing across the room, staring back at Vince without the ire but with all of the confidence was a man straight out of Gem's worse nightmares. "I take him to be Dominic," She said, her voice low and tinged with fear and anger. What would happen now?

"That's the asshole's name alright," Vince answered her with a snarl. "Still hasn't told us what the fuck he's doin' here."

"I live here," Dominic finally broke his silence. He had been surveying the scene with a sort of stoic calm. He had no idea who the honey blond whose arm Mia was hanging off was. It was clear she was close to both his sister and Vince. It was also clear she wasn't the kind of girl Vince normally kept around. She wasn't wearing any makeup, for one thing. She was also dressed tastefully in a red sleeveless v neck sweater and black dress slacks. She wasn't wearing any shoes, having left them by the front door and her socks had rubber duckys on them. Everything about her quietly conveyed she was a well adjusted girl next door. In short, she was nothing like most of the girls either he or Vince had ever brought home.

"You lived here," Mia reminded, finding some serenity in Gem's presence. "You don't now," she corrected, "because you took off when things got tough."

"You gave up any right you had to this place and this life when you left us all to die," Vince said harshly, managing to roar without raising his voice.

"What was I supposed to do? If I hadn't taken off I'd still be rotting in jail. The cops were right there and what was done was done. If I hadn't taken the car when Brian gave me the keys and took off I'd be doing ten to twenty for armed robbery."

"Oh god, Brian!" Mia broke down into sobs again when the reminder of her lost lover was tossed out by the brother who had abandoned her. Gem wrapped her arms around the darker girl and made a soothing noise in her throat as she stroked Mia's hair and back. They'd get through this, what choice did they have.

"So instead you left me to do your time for you," Vince growled. "You knew once the buster put me in that chopper they had me. They had me at the scene and there was no way I could get away from them."

"You don't seem to be in jail," Dominic shot back.

"No, because the buster fucked up the evidence. They wouldn't have gotten you either, but you didn't stick around long enough to find that the fuck out. You took the coward's way out, abandoned your sister to try to hold it all together for you, abandoned her here to slowly lose everything she had as far as you knew, and left me for dead in some hospital. You left Jesse to die like a dog hit by a car on the sidewalk on the side of the road, you selfish fuckin' prick."

"Jesse was dead when I took off to catch Tran. What good would it have done me to hang around here and wait for EMS to take him to the morgue?"

"Jesse died in the hospital days after you took off Dominic," Mia screamed. "You're everything Vince says you are. You're a selfish prick," she choked on the words.

Gem could only stare at Dom. She knew there was hate flashing in her eyes and she was ashamed of hating someone she really didn't know but she couldn't help herself. He had left Vince alone and hurting in a hospital being cared for by people who varied from thinking he was scum to people who simply saw too much hurt and pain day in day out to be affected by it enough to care about yet another hurt and lonely man. He had left Mia bereft at the loss of everything and everyone she knew from her life in one fell swoop and he had never even looked back long enough to find out if she was ok, if Vince was ok.

"No one is going to introduce me to the person who simply lets herself into my house at two thirty in the morning?" Dominic asked finally, breaking the silence the room had fallen into. He tried to smile at Gem in greeting and to take the sting out of his words but it came off pinched and tight. The tension in the room was affecting him more than he tried to let on.

"You don't get to know her," Vince growled. "You don't deserve to know her, and you won't be sticking around long enough to need to meet her." His control was starting to break and it showed.

Gem broke free from Mia but retained a hold on the older girl's hand. She walked over to Vince and stood in front of him, looking up into his irate blue eyes. She lifted up her free hand to touch his cheek. "Are you ok?" She questioned softly.

"Yeah, super," He answered sarcastically. As though he had remembered to whom he spoke when he continued he dropped the sarcastic tone. "This is the last thing we needed right now. I hoped to fuck he'd never come back."

"But he did anyway," Gem answered in a calming tone, running her hand over the scratchy surface of his face, enjoying the familiarity of the texture. "I just don't know what you want to do about it."

"Not a lot we can do about it. It's his house."

"It's our house!" Mia broke in, anger making her tone sharp. "Mine as much as his and he gave his right to it when he abandoned it and me here over a year ago."

"Tell it to him!" Vince snapped. He sighed after and ran a hand through his disordered hair. "I just thought we had everything under control. We were finally so close to being normal again."

Normalcy was clearly something he hungered for. It was clear from how shaken he was to have lost it how much having it had meant. Gem hazarded a glance over her shoulder at the very fit and tan Dominic Toretto. She didn't like the look on his face one bit. He was sizing her up but she didn't know to what purpose. He gave her the willies. She turned back to Vince and continued as they had been-talking about Dom like he didn't exist. "What are we going to do with him for the night then? Kick him out?"

"He can stay downstairs in Jess's old room," Vince said in a tone that brooked no arguments as he stared Dominic down over Gem's head. "I'll stay upstairs with you girls."

"Do you need to go down and get anything out of your room?" Gem asked Vince, still looking up into his face, her worry and fear showing on her face and in her voice. It was like it finally clued Vince into the fact he wasn't the only one who had had the bottom drop out of his world in one fell swoop. Gem was likely even more afraid. All she knew about Dominic was what she had gleaned from them and the stories they told didn't paint a pretty picture. She was likely scared to be left alone with him.

"Naw, I'm good," He again looked at Dominic. "You hear that Dom? You go to the basement and you sleep in Jesse's room or you get the fuck out."

"I have my own room, in case you forgot," Dom growled out, finally seeming to lose his calm demeanour.

"You had a room," Vince stressed. "That's Gem's room now. The only room I got open for some low life coward like you is in the basement. Got it?"

"Yeah, I hear you V. I just don't know how long you think you can boss me around in my own house."

"It's mine too, as much as it is yours Dominic, or did you forget that it's in both our names?" Mia asked, finding anger instead up upset a lot easier to deal with. "And since I've been living here steadily while apparently you've had a permanent address elsewhere I think I have more right to claim it as home than you do. If it was just up to me I'd tell you to get the hell out and stay out."

"Mia, I'm your brother! How are you going to kick me out of our family home?"

"I stopped thinking of you as my brother the day you ran out on me and left me all alone with one of my best friends dying and the other cut up and crippled in the hospital. That was the day I started thinking of you as the asshole and so far you haven't said anything to change my mind," Mia's chin came up proudly. "While you ran off and took the easy way out I've been right here. I've been dealing with the snide looks from strangers and rebuilding my life and mom's business. While you took off, to Mexico after all by the look of you, Vince was right here running the garage and keeping us in this house you say you care so much about. As far as I'm concerned I have one brother and it's not you anymore. It's V. So many times while you were gone I wished you were dead instead of just run off and every time I wished that I'd think to myself it was awful of me to even think such a thing. But it's true. My life was finally back on track. I'd be better off if you died in daddy's car instead of running off the like coward you turned out to be and slinking back here after someone told you the coast was clear like the coward you are."

Gem watched as with that bombshell Mia walked calmly out of the room. Though there were tears running down her face, her dignity was still quite intact. She hazarded another .look at Dominic. The look on his face could only be described as stunned. Gem could only surmise this was not quite the greeting he had thought to be getting when he finally returned home, the prodigal son. She knew about how she would feel if one of her brothers told her they wished she was dead instead of living in L.A. She started to trail after Mia. At the door she turned back to Vince. "Are you coming V?"

Vince was staring at Dom, who was returning his gaze. "I'll be along."

"Alright," With another glance at Dominic Gem left the room, frowning. Some instinct caused her to pause outside the door, out of sight of the men within. Mia continued up the stairs to her room as if in a trance.

"Who the hell is that V? Never thought I'd live to see the day some chick had you domesticated. Shit, coyotes run wild and solo remember? Besides that, I figured if anyone was gonna fall for the blonde good girl it woulda been Leon, not you."

"She's Gem and she's Mia's friend. She's also nonea your damn business."

Gem didn't know why Vince was protesting she was merely Mia's friend and not filling Dominic in on the real extent of their relationship. She was hurt but tried to remind herself that Vince had had a big shock with Dominic just showing up again. But it still occurred to her that Dominic had to have seen the way they interacted. Would he really buy Vince's protests against their relationship?

"Shit, I can't believe it. Vince got himself a girl. A lot changed in a year. What does she do that brings her home so late at night V. Surely you wouldn't date a stripper would ya? She's got the hair for it anyway." Dominic said as he thought of Gem's long, thick, honey blonde mane.

"She's a waitress at a club. What do you want Dom? Really, why are you here?"

"I live here V. You thought I was never gonna come home again? I just had to take off until the heat was off. I would think you'd understand that. It's not like you didn't find yourself in the same sort of circumstance when we were kids. Hell, it's half of how you got your damn nickname V. Coyotes like to run and hide but they always slink home again when the coast's clear."

"When you ran out on Mia after all she went through Dom I just figured that you'd be smart enough to know you wouldn't be welcome here no more. I guess I gave you too much credit for brains. You shoulda known better. You shoulda took her with you. She's your damn sister, your blood. Sides, how'd you find out the heat was off?"

"Got a tip from a little bird. Seems Brian finally found us and thought it was only fair we knew we could go home again. We were hidden so well it took him that long to find us." Dom stopped talking and rubbed his head. "Shit V, I didn't know things were so bad here. I really didn't. I figured as soon as you were well enough to travel you woulda split right behind us too. I thought you'd bring Mi with you. I figured on you needing someone to take care of you and do most of the driving. I didn't know you guys wouldn't try to find us in Mexico. I thought I'd be seeing you a few days, maybe weeks after we left."

"And do what with the house, the cars, the garage? Someone had to keep all the stuff your dad worked his whole life to have in the family. Mia isn't strong like Let Dom, you can't just toss her to the wind and see where she lands like you can Letty. You got no idea how hard it was to be half the man I use to be and responsible for _your_ little sister and _your_ garage. _Your _house, and all _your_ responsibilities. I don't know if I can ever forgive you for it brotha I really don't."

"I guess Mia never seemed that fragile when she was yelling at me about how sick she was of your shit and causing people to get in fights over her in front of my store."

"I guess Mia never had to watch someone like a younger brother to her get gunned down in front of her house before either. I guess Mia never had to scrub Jesse's blood off our sidewalk before and never had to find a contractor to fix about two hundred bullet holes in the side of her house before. Never had to watch someone she'd known since she was just a little kid get hauled off the side of a transfer truck half dead, cut up and shot up. Never had to find out the man she loved was a fuckin' pig and playin her all along to get close to her asshole brother who shoulda taken the good advice he was given and dropped the last heist before it ever got so far," Vince's voice rose slowly from a growl to a yell before he caught himself and dropped his tone again. "Who shoulda took the good advice he was given that Brian was a cop. I told you he was a fuckin' pig from day one and you just wouldn't listen to me."

"Not so loud man. Your little girlfriend might hear you."

"Gem knows everything about us Dom. She knows it all, right back to me and Letty robbin the damn liquor store so don't think you got a sterling reputation with Gem."

"You told her all that shit?" Dom asked incredulously.

"Funny how it happens when everyone you'd normally talk to is dead or AWOL and you need to talk to someone. Gem's a part of this household now and she deserved to know. She needed to decide if she wanted to be part of this or not with her eyes open to the truth."

"I guess it's serious between the two of you then, if you're willing to fill her in on all the dirt, all the skeletons in the closet. When's the wedding?" Dom tried to tease good naturedly. He wasn't being mean spirited, just trying to recapture some of the relationship that he had always had with Vince. They grew up like brothers and Dom didn't know if he could stand to lose that and his blood sister in the same day. He really never had imagined he'd be coming home to such a mess.

"Fuck Dom, I never even told you she was my girl. She just lives here because," Vince paused, unable to believe he was about to say what he was about to say. "Because she's Mia's friend. I mean, I guess we have a thing but it's not as serious as you're making it out to be. She's out to make it as a singer and if she ever does that'll be the end of us. She'll take off to do her thing and I'll be stayin' right here. We both knew that goin' in."

♫

When she heard Vince's response to Dominic her hand flew to her mouth to stifle a cry. Hearing Vince put her fears into words so casually was the last straw for Gem. She flew up the stairs without a noise and pulled out a small coach bag. She stuffed her most important possessions into it, her notebook with all her songs and music, her extra bass strings and picks, her favourite shirt and pants, the pictures off her nightstand of her brothers, and Mia. She left the picture of her and Vince together behind. She took a few seconds to change into some track pants and a sweat shirt. She paused at the door of the room and looked around. It was amazing to her how much the room had become hers in the brief time she had lived there. She took one more glance around before she walked silently across the hall to the music room. She penned a quick note to Mia, telling her friend she had to go for awhile and didn't know when she'd be back but that they'd see each other on Monday at the café. Gem wasn't even sure she would really show up. With that she tossed her bag over her shoulder and after slipping the note under Mia's door, darted quietly down the stairs.

She was running. There was no other way to look at it but she couldn't care. She couldn't excuse what she'd heard leave Vince's mouth by thinking of the shock or hurt he was feeling. She couldn't forgive what he had said so easily as that. She had thought they meant something to each other. To hear Vince say she was nothing but a good time for him while he waited for her to get her break and go away had crushed her.

She forced her feet into her sneakers and opened the door swiftly. It made the same noise it always made as the weather stripping seal around it broke. By the time anyone in the house realized what the noise had been she hoped to be long gone. Her car was at the end of the driveway and she knew she had a quick getaway. She unlocked her car and disarmed the security as she ran up to it. It chirped it's readiness with a quick beep from the horn and two flashes of the parking lights. She tossed her bag over onto the passenger seat and slid into the car, pushing the clutch and turning the key in one fluid motion.

She backed down the driveway with no idea where she would go. She couldn't run home to her mom and dad, they lived too far away. She was too scared she would only hear 'I told you so's' from Doug and he was just as far away as her parents anyway. Nick was practically unreachable in some small town in Nevada. It felt somehow wrong to her to disturb Tamica or Elliott this late at night, even with her world falling apart. Since Mia was really her only other friend and there was no way she was going home so soon that didn't leave her a lot of options. She pointed the car down the road and simply drove, unconscious of the tears running down her cheeks.

♫

"What was that?" Vince asked rhetorically as he heard the front door open and close.

"Front door," Dom answered the questing despite the fact it hadn't really begged an answer. It was instinct. He hadn't heard that door open for over a year but after being at so many parties there with that door opening and closing all night, the answer to what the noise had been was impossible to miss.

"No shit Dom," Vince sighed. He wasn't getting anywhere with Dom and belittling his relationship with Gem to try and keep Dom's interest in her low hurt more than he had expected it to. The last thing he needed, now that Dom was back, was for Dom to try his shit with Gem. If Dominic didn't try to flirt with Gem it would be the first girl he'd ever left alone once he knew Vince was interested in them, his and Letty's feelings be damned. He moved toward the front hall to find out who had come in or gone out. "Where are Letty and Leon?" He asked as an after thought, able to hear the fact Dom was following him toward the door.

"I left them at our hotel until I found out what the situation was here."

"I think you should go back to them then."

"Why, so you can go back to playing house with your little blonde girlfriend and forget we're back, that we're home? Like it or not Vince, we are home and it's not just going to go away."

"Fuck Dom, don't you know how much you fucked up by coming back here now? Mia's right brotha, you shoulda just stayed gone; dead and buried. Jesse can't ever come back again so why should you?"

"Jesse ran Vince. I didn't make him run and I didn't make him put a slip up to a car that wasn't his to loose."

"No, but you did kick the shit outta Tran in front of three quarters of the racing scene at wars. I know you're full of yourself Dom but shit, you can't really think Tran killed the kid over that stupid Jetta. Tran killed Jesse over you and your shit with him, not over a lost race and a car he coulda bought a million times over. "

"I went to try and find him V."

"Yeah, after you made Letty and Leon go through with the heist even though they told you they didn't want to."

"What about you, huh? I didn't hear you protesting too much."

"You knew I wouldn't. You counted on it brotha and you know it. It was like you were telling them they had to go along because I didn't protest against it so it was two on two and we were the two that carried more weight. You knew all along I wouldn't refuse no matter what. That didn't mean I thought it was a good idea. If we'd gone after Jesse right away we wouldn't have pulled the last job and none of this shit woulda happened."

"So why didn't you go looking for Jesse right away?"

Vince reached the front door and moved to pull it open. Before he did he turned to look Dom in the eye. "Because I'm a fuckup and I decided to follow you instead. I wish I had known just how much of a selfish prick you really are then. I followed some idiot on a stupid scheme instead of going after the kid. I have to live with that for the rest of my life. Jesse was like a little brother to me and I didn't tell you to go fuck yourself and go find him. But you have to live with being the reason why we all did the stupid thing and you have to live with being the reason why Jesse died." With that, Vince hauled the door open. The string of cursing that issued forth from his lips could have made a sailor blush when he took in what was missing from the driveway. He punched the front door with a roar, "Fuck!"

The Solara was gone. He'd bet his guitar that Gem had heard him belittle her importance in his life to Dominic and had run off. Why else would she take off in the middle of the night?

"What's wrong V?" Dom asked from behind him.

"Gem's car's gone," Vince snapped before taking off up the stairs to double check she wasn't in her room. When he found her clothes drawers open and the contents dishevelled and all the pictures missing off her nightstand, save the one of him and her he knew for a fact she'd heard every word and had taken off in response. He turned to the door to find Dominic filling it. He was filled with a rage so hot it burned in his chest. The tightness made speech all but impossible. "This is all your fault," he bit out, unable to keep the violence out of his low tone.

"How is this my fault?" Dom asked incredulously. It was clear he really didn't see.

Vince couldn't believe how harshly he'd had his eyes opened to Dom's true nature. Just a short year ago all his posturing as the 'King of the Streets' was endearing. It was just a part of who Dominic was. Now he felt like he'd had a veil torn off his eyes. Dom's whole attitude radiated the knowledge Dominic really felt like he could do no wrong. He'd done everything right, everything he had to do. The shit storm that had caused wasn't his fault. Of course it wasn't. The king was without consequence. _Well fuck that_, Vince thought. _It's high time he felt the results of his holier than thou attitude_. "When you decided to run off you shoulda stayed gone. You shouldn't have come back here and fucked up everything for everyone when we were finally making it back around."

"What should I have done with Letty and Leon? They didn't deserve to come home either?"

Dom's self righteous tone grated on Vince's already raw nerves. "You're going to wake Mia," Vince said before he pushed past Dominic and started back down the stairs. He heard Dom's heavy foot falls behind him, following him down the stairs. Vince didn't stop at the bottom but continued right out the still open front door. Dom followed him out onto the porch and down onto the lawn.

"We gonna go find this chick or what?" Dom asked when Vince stopped moving. The right hook that flew into his left eye took him totally by surprise as Vince spun on him out of the blue.

"You're not going to have shit all to do with her! Got it?" Vince didn't wait for an answer. "And you will not talk about her like that. She ain't some race skank you can call chick and chase after like some oversexed dog that shoulda been fixed years ago. Aside from what it does to Lett, I won't have you pull that same shit with Gem. She's not that kinda girl."

"I'm just trying to help," Dom said between clenched teeth before he threw an answering punch of his own toward Vince.

Vince saw it coming. Dominic didn't have the element of surprise that he had on his first shot. The flying fist still caught him on the side of his head, grazing his jaw. "You fucker," he growled before he threw himself at Dom, taking the larger man down to the ground in a tackle. He ended up straddling Dom's chest before taking another shot at Dom's face, splitting his lip wide open.

"That all you got?" Dom asked before turning his head to spit out a mouthful of blood. "That all?" he asked before shoving with all his bulk and reversing their positions. He let another fist fly at Vince, managing to connect with Vince's right eye.

"Son of a bitch!" Vince roared in anger and pain. "You fucker!" he called back before using the extra strength he had by virtue of being so angry to throw Dom off him and jump to his feet. He kicked Dom in the ribs as hard as he could while he was still on the ground on his hands and knees trying to get up. He was wearing his steel toed boots and he definitely felt something give in Dom's side.

Dom cried out in rage and pain. "You mother fucker!" He got to his feet, his face contorted with ire and pain. Heedless of his injuries he threw himself at Vince again.

Vince was ready and waiting for him, needing this physical release of his pent up anger, frustration, and fear for Gem. They locked up in the center of the lawn. Maybe because of the pain he was in, Dom was easier than he should have been to keep an upper hand on. Vince quickly broke Dom's hold on him and punched him in the stomach with a hard upper cut. Dom rained curse words down on his head as Vince continued to pummel him. This went on for several minutes. Dom got a few blows in but they were mostly glancing. It was clear he was in a lot of pain and it was affecting his aim and stamina. Vince gave back better than he got, blow for blow.

When he had all he was going to take Dom finally got himself together and tackled Vince back down to the ground. He straddled his chest, panting in pain and out of breath. Vince was also breathing hard. "Damn it V, I didn't mean any disrespect by what I said. Did you have to break," Dom flexed his muscles experimentally, "three of my ribs over it?"

"Yeah, and I'll break four more of them too cause you got it comin' Dom. You can't just waltz back in here after over a year of not even lettin' us know you were still alive and expect to get welcomed with open arms. You can't use Letty and Leon as an excuse either. They're both adults. If they didn't want to stay with you so long they coulda came home any time they figured out it was the right thing to do."

Dom ran a hand over his still bald head, still sitting on his childhood friend to keep him in a place where his boots and fists couldn't do any more damage than they already had. "I know I shoulda called but for all I knew the cops were still watching the house. I coulda ended you and Mia up in jail or got Letty and Leon found if I contacted home. For all I knew the cops were just waiting for me to do something like that. I just figured that if they couldn't find me they didn't have much of a case against you. What were they gonna do, try and prove you were heisting trucks all alone?"

"You never shoulda run off in the first place," Vince said before tossing Dom off of him and standing up. "But you did. And for the first time in a long time I finally got my shit together and if you think I appreciate you comin' back here and messin' that up for me you got another thought comin' brotha. Go home, back to the hotel where you left Letty and Leon. There'll be time enough to talk about how we want to handle things Monday after work."

"I'll see you at the garage at ten on Monday then?" Dom asked as he stood up.

"I don't have a place for you in the garage right now Dom. I got all the help I need."

"That was my father's shop Vince! There are a lot of things that I'll accept after all this time. I'll accept that you gave my room away to some girl I don't know. I'll accept for now the fact that my sister hates me and I'll even admit that she has a right to. But I will not accept you telling me I don't have a right to go to my father's shop."

"It's not the same DT as it was before you left brotha. I made it into what it is now and you had nothing to do with it. Shit Dom, people don't even know who you are anymore."

"That might be but they'll remember as soon as I start racing again. Or is that something else that I'm not allowed to do anymore?" Dom asked and his frustration began to become clear.

"I hardly ever go to races anymore so do what the fuck you want. I gotta try and find Gem."

"I guess I have to go get Letty to wrap my ribs. Still can't believe you kicked me wearing steel toed boots. That's low."

"You should feel right at home then shouldn't you? Low places seem like something you'd be familiar with after what you did and the year you just spent running from a threat that didn't even exist."

"I don't want to fight with you any more tonight Vince so I'm going to leave," Dom started toward the red Chevy parked at the curb.

Vince was surprised that he hadn't noticed it before.

"But I'll be at the garage Monday morning and we damn well will talk about what's going to happen in the future now that I'm back. And that will include me and Letty and Leon moving back into our house. If your girl wants to stay she can room with you. If Mia has issues with that then we'll have to deal with it next week. I'll give you the rest of the weekend to come to terms with it all."

"Fuck you Dom!" Vince called after Dom's slow, stiff moving form. Dom's only answer was to hold up his hand over his shoulder with his middle finger raised before he got into his car and started it, taking off with a squeal.

Vince turned back to the house with a weary sigh. Why did Dom have to come back? Why couldn't he just have been happy in Baja or where ever he had ended up? Not that it wouldn't be good to see Letty and Leon again, not that some part of him hadn't been glad to see Dominic alive and well, but he didn't want to think about the feelings Dom's return raised in him.

It had stirred up all the old feelings of hurt, betrayal, anger and abandonment. Just as breezily as he'd left he'd breezed back into their lives again. He did it without any concept of how badly it shook them and without seeming to care all that much. If he did he didn't show it. Vince smirked in malice. At least he'd be feeling his broken ribs for a good few weeks to come. It was a small victory. The mean smile left his face when he realized Gem was still out in the world alone after hearing all the things he'd said. She wouldn't understand he had just been trying to protect her from Dom's unwanted attention.

He refused to acknowledge the small voice that popped up saying that there was as much to do with not wanting to appear soft to his old friend as there was to protecting Gem in his statement to Dominic. He thanked the stars for whatever twist of fate had kept Mia asleep in her room and not awake to his fight with Dom as he got in his car and started it, off to try and find Gem.

♫

Gem randomly turned left and right, her feet and hands doing the things needed to make the car move along its random path on autopilot. She was driving through downtown Los Angeles. In an effort not to think about what had happened such a short time ago she had forced her brain around to mundane things like the scenery around her. The string of red tail lights in her rear view caught her eye.

She had just found so much hope for her future. Now all that hope was dead and there was nothing she could do about it. What was said was said and it couldn't be taken back. _So much for not thinking about it_, she mused to herself ryely. It was like a sore in her mouth, she just couldn't leave it alone. Her brain kept picking at it like her tongue might were it a canker sore and not an unredeemable act she had to live through.

If she had a way to go back and just keep Dominic from ever coming home she would do it, no questions asked. It wouldn't matter how illegal or immoral it was. It wouldn't matter. She'd cheat destiny. She'd cheat time and reality if she could. But there was nothing she could do. She couldn't alter the future, couldn't deny fate. The reality she found herself living in was the only one she could have and her hope for the future was dead. She looked at her watch. It was three thirty in the morning. Right now she should be asleep next to Vince, blissfully unaware just how fast and easy it would be for her whole world to be torn asunder. As she had painfully learned, it could happen in the blink of an eye.

Things felt totally hopeless. She didn't know what she could do. She really didn't think she could forgive Vince for what he'd said. Hell, it was just how she'd known he felt on some level. She had figured all along he wouldn't want to be a permanent part of the band. She just hadn't expected him to reduce her role in his life to that of 'for a good time call,' the way he had. She was numb, walking wounded. _If this is giving up than I guess I'm giving up_, she thought as she turned again, this time heading out of town. _I can't do this anymore. I give up._

She thought of praying, something she hadn't done in a long time. It was true she went to church at home and with Mia, but prayer and having a great deal of faith in God wasn't something she really did. There was nothing to make you want God to intercede on your behalf like having the bottom fall out of your world.

Love wasn't supposed to hurt your soul. Love was supposed to uplift it. She laughed almost hysterically. It was supposed to uplift your soul to fall in love, you were supposed to walk around with a permanent grin on your face. _I'm not falling in love, just falling to pieces. _She wasn't going to allow herself to be a victim for love. If that was how Vince really felt than he could just have his freedom to do with as he pleased.

She found herself at the little beach that Mia considered her own little secret and got out of the car. She kicked her sandals off onto the floor of her car and wandered down to the water's edge. Why was it they all ran to this little beach when they had something serious on their minds?

Gem figured it could have something to do with the fact it was quite remote. She threw her head back and screamed her anger, sadness and frustration at the sky. It was just like Vince to manage to illicit a violent reaction out of her when anyone or anything else would have simply made her slip even farther into her icy calm world. She could have taken Dominic on if she could do it on her own. Adding Vince and his idiotic words into the mix just made her lose it.

She picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could into the water. It hit the surface, broke it, then sank, leaving ever widening ripples along the dark surface until finally the last ripple faded to black. Her thrown rock was erased from the world the same way as she felt erased from the life she had built for herself. She collapsed to the sand and gave way to violent, racking sobs that left her breathless, sitting with her knees pulled to her chest and her face buried in them. Dominic was back. Soon Mia wouldn't need her. She would have Letty back to take her place as best friend. Vince wouldn't need her. He would be returning to the races and the lifestyle he'd kept when he was around them with Leon and Dominic there to be his boys. She would still be right there needing everyone and they would have neatly replaced her with people who fit better.

When she stopped she had no concept of how long she had been sitting in the sand. She picked herself up, dusted the sand off her sweats and headed for the car. She was blissfully numb again. Her thoughts were quiet at last. She rubbed at her tired, scratchy eyes and climbed into the driver's seat.

_If this is giving up than I'm giving up. _

She decided that she may as well go back to the house. She had nowhere else to go and the damage was done. Now that she was obtund to the words she had heard there was no reason to deny herself the comfort of her own bed for the night. She turned the car toward echo park and turned the radio on for the rest of the drive.

When she arrived home, she parked, noting the fact that Vince's car and the red car that had been at the curb when she had first come home from work were both gone. With a shrug she locked her car and let herself into the house. She headed straight to her room, wrote a note stating that no one was to bother her, that she would get up on her own schedule tomorrow and didn't want to hear from anyone before then and stuck it to her door. Everything would keep until the morning, or the afternoon if she felt like sleeping that long.

With a sigh she finally found her bed. It hadn't been quite the night she had been expecting to live through before the fact though. Surprisingly, she didn't toss and turn or lie awake for any length of time before sleep claimed her weary mind.

♫

Vince searched for Gem all over Los Angeles. He went to all the places he thought she might possibly have gone. He checked her friend Tamica's house. He checked for her car at Elliot's. He went back to the bar and checked there for her car. He even went so far as trying the door even though Barry's truck wasn't there. Giving up on the Cobalt, he drove past Barry's house and the older waitress's place too. Her car wasn't in any of the places he looked. He drove past the biker bar but didn't find her car there either.

He tried the boardwalk by Neptune's Net and the beach across the road. There were no cars there, the place was deserted. He tried the cemetery where Jesse was buried on the off chance she might be hiding there but she wasn't. As a last resort he tried the small beach he'd taken her to the night that seemed so long ago, the night he'd filled her in on just what sort of man she was getting herself involved with. She wasn't there either.

He gave up on finding her then. He'd looked everywhere he knew to look. The drive home seemed to take forever. Every minute he lived with the knowledge that Gem was alone somewhere hurting and he'd driven her there felt like a lifetime. When he pulled up to the house and found her car home a wave of relief left him almost weak. If her car was home in one piece than so was she. It didn't take long for the relief to be replaced with anger. How dare she take off and leave him to worry like she had.

He left himself into the house and headed upstairs after taking off his shoes. The note tacked to her door took all the wind out of his sails. The strident tone of the note left no doubt. She'd heard every damning word he'd said to Dominic in the kitchen. He was going to have to let her have the night. If she was asleep she deserved to stay that way. Tomorrow would be soon enough for them to go into their issues. He didn't know how he was going to explain what he'd said to Gem. He could only hope she would try to understand.

♫

Gem woke up the next morning and stretched with a yawn. The sun was shining and it looked like a great day outside. She got out of bed and started to get dressed in track pants and a tank top, determined to go for a jog. She had a few things to sort out for herself before she could answer the inevitable questions that were bound to arise after the events of the previous evening. She flew lightly down the stairs after tying her hair back in a pony tail.

No one seemed to be around as she tied her sneakers at the foot of the stairs. She finished tying her shoes and pushed the ear buds of her Ipod into her ears. She queued up some fast paced music to run to and stepped out onto the porch. She used the railing as a base to stretch her legs and sides out from. Her heart was already beating a mile a minute as she waited for Mia or Vince to confront her before she could get away. All she wanted was to get off on her own again. Having slept on her issues she was in a much calmer place, a lot closer to her normal, rational frame of mind. She didn't have to be told being confronted by Vince would bring back all the anger and ire in a split second.

Finally confident she wouldn't get a pulled muscle she skipped down the front steps and jogged off down the lawn and down the street. She was feeling pretty good about having made her escape.

She couldn't think too deeply about anything at first as she waited to fall back into the familiar rhythm of arms pumping and legs running. As she got back into the pattern and her breathing became deep and rhythmic she allowed her mind to focus. She had a problem.

She was incredibly angry and hurt by what Vince had said. She didn't know how to trust him anymore because she wasn't sure what he was thinking about them at any given time now. She didn't know that there was a future in the world for them after what she'd heard. Unfortunately she also needed him. Until such a time that she could replace him she didn't know what she'd do for a guitarist if she lost Vince. Her mind warred with two scenarios.

Tell him to take a hike and stay the hell out of her life. Tell him that included Toretto's while she was there and the Cobalt. That since she had to be there for her job and he could get a Corona at any number of bars he could be the one to find elsewhere to hang out and drink his face off.

The other option she could see was tell him that their relationship-whatever it had been-was over and she had no further interest in him as a boyfriend. She wouldn't sever all ties with him and hopefully he would keep playing for them at least long enough to allow them to audition people and choose someone else.

The first one felt better for her emotional health. It wasn't going to be easy to see him in any capacity and not feel the hurt and betrayal all over again each time. But the second way was better for the band. She knew Vince didn't really care about that anyway, but she did. And so did Tamica and Elliott. They couldn't play without someone to play lead guitar and they couldn't replace Vince without a few weeks to do so.

She had decided one thing for certain. In any event she had to move out of the house. She wouldn't stay with Vince and she wouldn't live under the same roof as someone she hated as much as she hated Dominic Toretto. So she had to find a new place to live. Having cemented that decision in her mind she stopped at the next corner store she jogged by and bought a Sunday paper. She figured she'd jog home, phone some vacancies and start looking at places tomorrow.

She turned for home. Reaching the house some time later she entered and went up the stairs to her room. She was pulling clean clothes out of her dresser for after her shower when Mia walked into her room.

"Where were you?"

"I went for a run," Gem answered. She took her towels out of her closet.

"What happened to you last night? I wake up to a note on my floor that says you're taking off and you don't know when you'll be back. Then I find another note on your door that says you don't want to talk to anyone. When you finally do wake up you take off again. I don't understand."

"I went to follow you upstairs last night to wait for Vince. For some reason I stopped just outside the kitchen door and listened to some of the things the guys were talking about," Gem shook her head and fluttered her hands in an attempt to collect her thoughts. She couldn't think of a way to reveal only part of what had happened to Mia so she just related the whole story of everything she'd overheard. "So this morning I went for a jog to clear my head," Gem met Mia's eyes earnestly. "Mia, you know you're my best friend in the whole world right now, right?"

"Yeah, you're my best friend too. Gem, where are you going with this?"

"I can't live here anymore Mia. I won't live here. Not after what he said. I don't think I'd want to anyway. I've heard too much about Dominic and I actually hate him. I don't like the way hating someone feels but I know I do hate him. If he really intends to live here again I won't. I won't stay with Vince and it would gall me to feel like I was taking Dom's charity for a place to stay. I'm going to move out."

"You can't leave me here alone with them," Mia wailed. "I hate Dominic too right now. But I'm not going to run away and find another place to live. This is our home."

"No Mia, it's not mine. I know it's yours but it was your father's. You deserve to stay here. If Dom's back to claim the house I won't stay here. I can't, not if I'm not going to be staying here as part of V's life."

A look of resolve came over Mia's face. "Fine, I'll move out with you. We'll get a two bedroom place somewhere between the café and school. Somewhere close to here. With what the café makes and what you make at work and what I'm getting in scholarships and financial aid we should be able to afford it."

"Mia, I can't ask you to move out of your family home because I'm not comfortable staying here."

"You didn't ask. I said I wanted to. It's settled. Are those the classifieds?" Mia asked firmly before she moved toward the newspaper and spread it out on the bed.

"Yeah," Gem answered her with a sigh. She really didn't think Mia planning to move out of the house too was a good idea. It was really going to cause a blow up out of Vince and Dominic, Gem could feel it. Vince was libel to take her plans to move bad enough. Throw Mia on top of that and he was like as not to go ballistic. There was nothing that could be done about it. If Mia wanted to move too Gem couldn't stop her. She really didn't want to live alone anyway. She just didn't think things were going to be easy for them.

"This one would be good," Mia said after a few minutes of looking over the newsprint. "It's close to here so it's still close to the Cobalt and Toretto's. The rent's reasonable."

"Yeah, circle that one," Gem said, handing over a red marker. "We'll have to make a list of ads to call about."

"If Dom's moving back here I want out before he comes," Mia said.

"That would be nice but I don't think it will happen, Mia. Most places aren't going to be available on the spot," Gem ran her hands into her hair, taking handfuls of it as she bowed her head and blew out a sigh. "I don't even know what we're going to do about a damage deposit and first month's rent. I don't have what you'd want to call savings. I might be able to scrape together a couple hundred."

"I have some money hidden in my room. We should have enough for security and first month's rent," Mia turned to look at Gem. "We can do this, right?"

"I don't know. But we're going to have to try. There's no option for me. If I stay here I'll always feel underfoot. I can't live like that."

"I'd just feel angry all the time," Mia shrugged. "Besides, we'll get to have the whole college experience if we get our own place. Cheap furniture, flags and sheets up instead of curtains. It'll be fun."

"Sure it will," Gem answered. She forced a tone of cheerfulness into her voice that she did not feel. Fun would be staying put with Vince like she'd daydreamed up until twenty four hours ago. Fun would be if Dominic hadn't come back to toss their worlds upside down. Fun was not a rag tag apartment they could barely afford.

Fun and survival were not the same thing, as unfortunate as that was for both of them. For Gem knew that she could not have both. She was only sure she could have one. She could survive.

"When are we going to tell Vince?"

Mia's question took her out of her thoughts abruptly. "Never? When he realizes we're not here anymore?"

"I don't know if I'm comfortable with that idea," Gem answered. It sure would be the easy way out. After what Vince had said about her to Dominic she wasn't even sure how much consideration of their plans he deserved. But she was fairly sure she couldn't just up and walk away from him without a word. She was going to have to have it out with him about what he had said, and she figured at the end of that conversation would be as good a time as any to tell him about her and Mia moving out. "He and I are going to have to talk about things sooner or later. I figure I may as well tell him about it then."

"You sure that's a good idea? He's not going to like it."

"I know he isn't. But he and I are going to have to talk about what he said and the results of me over hearing it. He might as well find out we're moving out at the same time. Why don't we call some of these ads now? It'll be easier to stand firm about it if we already have a place in mind."

"Ok," Mia picked up the cordless phone off the nightstand and dialled in the number for the place she liked the sound of best, the one close to everywhere the girls had to go. She was silent a few moments before it was clear someone had answered the call.

"Yes, hello. I'm calling about your ad in the paper. I see you have an apartment for rent in Echo Park." She stopped talking and listened for a moment. "So it is still available?"

Gem waited impatiently while the person on the other end of the phone answered Mia's question.

"When exactly could we move in?"

Gem wasn't sure how much longer she could wait without information without dancing in place in her impatience.

"That soon huh? When can we see the place? Um hum, we can be there in ten minutes. What's the address again?" Mia motioned for a pen, which Gem provided her, along with a piece of lined paper. Mia scribbled down an address. "Thanks so much, see you soon," She hung up.

"Well?" Gem questioned impatiently.

"We could move in as soon as we wanted. The last tenants moved out a week ago. Today was the first day he ran the ad so he hasn't had too many people look yet and he's going out of the country for a month in a few days and he just wants the place rented. If it's half decent we could get it for a good price."

"Let's go meet the guy than," Gem answered, figuring her shower was just going to have to wait for now. She pulled a light sweater on over her tank top.

"You sound more like you're headed out to a funeral," Mia said, her expression becoming upset.

"I'm sorry Mia. It's just that this isn't exactly something I wanted to do. It's one of those necessary evils."

"I know," Mia said as she stood up and impulsively hugged her friend. "I'm sorry. I forgot that for you this isn't just escaping from Dominic. I really thought there was something special between you and Vince. I'm sorry I forgot what you're going through."

"It's ok Mia. You're just as shocked as I am, if not more, seeing your brother for the first time in a year with no contact, no call to let you know he's ok and coming home, no nothing."

"So we'll get our own place, get outta here and things can really get back to normal permanently. No men and their annoying, selfish habits."

"Ok, let's go see this place," Gem said again, forcing a more upbeat tone to her voice. She and Mia left her room and headed down the stairs to the front door, then out of the house and over to Mia's car.

Mia was familiar with the neighbourhood, having spent her whole life in Echo Park, and she found the building without any trouble. The café was only a few hundred yards away from Dominic's house so they were still going to end up farther away from it than they currently were, but not too far. Assuming the place they were going to see wasn't a total dive, Gem reminded herself.

The building itself looked ok from outside. It was made of red brick and seemed well kept, with white trim around windows which were old and made of wavy glass, but still seemed solid and secure. At five stories tall it wasn't even close to being the biggest building in L.A. but it was still imposing with its sheer width and breadth. But the way the afternoon sun sparkled off the century glass was comforting and seemed almost welcoming. The front door was made of heavy oak of a rich honey colour and was trimmed with white as well. There had been a few concessions to the modern around the building and one of them was a modern intercom system allowing the tenants to choose whom they allowed entry into their building. Mia pushed the button for number nine and a moment later a male voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello. I'm Mia Toretto, we spoke on the phone a few minutes ago about the apartment."

The door buzzed. "Come on up Miss Toretto."

Gem pulled the door open and the girls walked into the building. They pushed the button and waited for the ancient elevator to open up. When they boarded it Mia pushed the button for the fifth floor. When they got off on the fifth Mia headed for the door of number nine. "What do you think of the building so far?"

"It's nice enough. Kind of old, but well kept. How can we afford this? There must be a catch."

Mia knocked on the door. "I told you, he has to find someone before he goes away."

Gem was saved from finding an answer by the inward swing of the door. It revealed a man in his late forties with deep brown hair and deep brown eyes which crinkled at the corners. He looked normal and nice. Gem felt her guard slip a notch.

"Mia?" he asked, sticking out his hand. Mia shook his hand with a smile to answer to the affirmative.

"And this is Gem," she added. The man turned to Gem with a smile.

"Hello Gem. I'm Kenny Myers."

Gem shook his outstretched hand. "I'm Gemmalynn Davis, but Gem will do," She instinctively returned his open smile.

"Well, let's show you ladies the apartment. It's only available because the last owner passed away suddenly," Like he saw their horrified looks he stumbled to add to his statement. "In a hospital, not here."

"Oh thank god," Mia said with a grin. "I don't believe in ghosts or any of that stuff but that still would have been weird."

"Yeah, it's hard to rent a unit after someone dies there. Poor Mrs. Smith felt ill and took herself off to the hospital and then never came home. She was eighty but she still seemed so healthy," Like the building manager needed to physically shake off his melancholy thoughts, he shook his head. "That's why her furniture is still here. Her family doesn't want it, what family she has. Had. They're all distant relatives and they couldn't be bothered coming to look through the stuff. You can have the place furnished if you want, or I can haul the stuff to waste management with my pickup. That's if you want the place."

"Mind if we finish looking around?" Gem asked on that note.

"Not at all. Kitchen's over there, bathroom through there," Kenny made vague gestures. "I'm just going to call my wife while you look around and let her know I'm running a little late."

"Sorry to keep you," Gem offered. "We could come another time. Tomorrow afternoon perhaps."

"Not at all. She's use to me flaking off on her. She knew when she married a musician she was getting the artistic, flakey type," Kenny grinned.

"Musician you say?" Gem asked, the musician in her going into overdrive. "What sort of musician?"

"I play the saxophone in a jazz band. You ask like a fellow flake," Kenny grinned.

"Guilty. I play guitar and sing. I'm in a band called Indigo Sound with some friends."

"You play lead or rhythm guitar?"

"Neither. Bass," Gem clarified. "I sing lead though, and write most of our songs."

"Well, if my jazz band ever has a lyrical number I'll know where to come," Kenny answered. "Go check the place out, let me know what you think."

Mia and Gem walked off together to explore the apartment. The kitchen and dining room were side by side at the front of the building. There was a window between the two, allowing for food to be easily passed from the kitchen to the dining room and for dishes to be easily passed back the other way. The living room was basically the same room as the dining room but farther toward the back of the house. The dining room and living room were both along the inside wall of the building. The entrance to the apartment let out into the living room in a small foyer area. An open arch style doorway from the living room let into a hallway. Off the hallway were three doors. Two of them lead to nice sized bedrooms and the middle door let into a bathroom done all in shining white tile. The bathroom had a window at the back which was done with stained and frosted glass. The bathtub was of the claw foot variety and had a shower curtain which went the whole way around it on a chrome frame hanging from the ceiling. It was old but it was clean and it charmingly fit in with the rest of Mrs Smith's things, which were all antique.

"I really like it here," Mia whispered to Gem.

"Me too. I don't know how he can let it rent so cheap. Not to mention fully furnished with antique furniture," Gem thought of the antique sleigh bed and matching armour and dresser in one of the rooms. She assumed it had been the late Mrs. Smith's room.

"He said the family didn't want any of it. He doesn't seem to either. I have to admit that antique furniture isn't really my style, but it sure beats not having any stuff until we could afford to buy some."

"So what do you think? Should we tell him we take it if he'll rent it to us?"

"I think so. I don't see any reason why not. It's clean, in a neighbourhood we're use to and the guy seems nice enough."

"Ok, let's go talk to him."

The girls walked back to the kitchen where they had left Kenny to his phone call. Gem couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. Kenny was going to offer them the place. If the price in the ad wasn't a misprint they were going to take the place and then it would be official, just like that in the blink of an eye. She wouldn't be living with Vince anymore. Wouldn't be dating Vince. Wouldn't be spending her nights with his warmth and smell wrapped around her along with his blankets. Having their own place was going to make what had happened yesterday very real very quickly.

"So, what did you think?"

"We like it," Mia answered. "When will you be deciding who gets it?"

"You're the second people who looked at it the place and the first ones who seemed interested. If you want it than you can have it. I'd rather tell people from home it's rented already than drag myself down here a hundred times to let people look only to have them decide the building's too old, the plumbing isn't modern enough or they don't like the colour of the walls. If you really want it, it's yours."

"I'm a little concerned about how much the rent is," Gem said. "Is the price in your ad correct?"

"Yes. It's what Mrs. Smith was paying plus a small increase. I know I likely could get more but again, I don't want to spend the next month showing looky lous around and I figured the low rent would be one good way to make sure that I got people who really wanted the place."

"We really want the place," Mia confirmed.

"What about the furniture. Do I have to haul it to goodwill?"

"Heavens no!" Gem answered. "It's all so beautiful. I can't believe her family didn't want any of it."

"Neither could I but they don't. Consider it yours. Take it with you when you move for all I care. Normally furnished places are harder to rent and I don't have room for the stuff. You ladies can consider it a signing bonus."

"How long of a lease will you want us to sign?" Gem asked. In one way she'd rather do month to month because then they could get out anytime they had to. But on the other hand if Kenny decided he wanted them out so he could get more money he only had to give them a couple months notice.

"Let's start with six months. I don't want you guys to feel trapped here but I'll be gone that long so if you leave before then I won't be around to find someone else to fill the apartment. Sound fair?"

"Very," Mia answered. "I'm feeling nervous. This is almost too good to be true."

"Just consider it your lucky day," Kenny said with a wink.

"So there's no catch?" Gem questioned. "No loud neighbours? No train that runs through the backyard, it's not on an airplane route?"

"No, no and no. But if you could see your way into keeping Allegro it would be a load off."

"Allegro?" Gem questioned. "As in lively, brisk, and fast?"

"Mrs. Smith's cat. He's another thing the relatives don't want. I've been putting off taking him to animal control. He's only four or so and I didn't even want to let her get a cat but she was kind of a favourite of mine and wanted one so bad I finally caved. I can't take him home because I have dogs and my wife's allergic."

"I like cats ok," Gem said and turned to Mia.

"I always wanted a kitten. Dom's allergic."

"I guess we have a new apartment and a new cat. Where is Allegro?"

"Likely hiding in one of the bedrooms. He'll come around. When are you guys going to move in?"

"Tonight or tomorrow if that's not too soon," Mia answered when she sensed Gem hesitating.

"Not at all. I can finally stop driving over here every day to feed the cat. I almost feel like I should be paying you girls. I can finally start to really prepare for my trip with this load off my mind. I was feeling pretty guilty about Ally but I don't have time to find him a new home. Animal control was my only choice. Of course you would think a purebred Siamese would find a new home fairly quickly."

At the sound of his common name a lithe camel coloured cat with sable feet, tail and face came racing out of the rear bedroom. He raced up to Gem and meowed at her, staring at her out of impossibly blue eyes with a very feline slant to them. If there ever was a feline that embodied all that was cat, it was a Siamese. Gem bent toward the cat. "Hello Ally. It seems we're going to sublet your apartment."

"Mrraow," Ally answered as he hopped up off his front feet to thump his head into Gem's outstretched hand.

"He doesn't seem to mind," Gem said, looking up at her two companions with a smile.

"Good," Kenny answered. They dealt with business, each girl reading and signing a copy of the lease. Mia wrote a check for first month and a small damage deposit. "Ok, I'm out of here. You girls have your keys, you can move it at will. I'll call to check on things before I fly in a week's time. If things don't work out with the cat let me know and I'll start trying to find a home for him."

"I'm sure it will be fine," Gem assured. She was so enamoured with the idea of having a cat it was almost silly. He'd be good company and he certainly had an appropriate name.

"Night then," Kenny let himself out, leaving the girls in their new place.

"Wow," Gem said, standing up out of her crouching position. "I can't believe we rented the first place we looked at."

"It's perfect though. It's big, sunny, close to work and school, has lots of parking and came with furniture. I guess the old lady didn't watch a lot of TV so that looks like one thing we'll have to buy."

"We're going to have to watch the money now Mia. We need to get the phone transferred over to our names."

"Yeah but heat and lights are included in the rent so that's not so bad. I think you underestimate how much of the money the café makes every month goes toward upkeep and mortgages on the house. On Dominic's house," Mia spat. "We're going to be ok just paying our own ways."

"I hope so," Gem looked around. "I guess we should go home and start packing. I only have what I came with anyway, some clothes and my music stuff. You might have slightly more I think."

"I'll just leave my bedroom stuff where it is. I'll keep the furniture here. That way we should be able to move in our cars. We won't need to ask anyone's help or to borrow the shop truck."

"I suppose. Did we do the right thing?" Gem asked Mia nervously. "Should we have tried to talk it out before we ran off and got our own place?"

"No. Not at all," Mia said with conviction. "You mean like Dominic talked to anyone before he ran off in the first place or came running back again? Or like how Vince talked to you about what a skirt chaser my brother was and why he might want to play down your relationship before he just did it? We don't owe them anything."

"Don't you want to see Letty and Leon again?"

"Sure, but I'm still really mad at them too, you know? I mean, they're adults. They could have called me to tell me they were ok but they didn't. They just ran off with Dominic. That makes them just as bad as he is in my mind. They could have called when he wasn't looking. They aren't going to convince me that Dom never once left them alone or slept the whole time they were gone."

"I guess not but from what I've seen of him so far he pretty much gets his way no matter what."

"True, but I guess there has to come a time when everyone starts to stand up for themselves. If they knew it was wrong to just leave us hanging than they shouldn't have done it. They should have called or left his selfish ass in Mexico and came home. I could have used Letty's help dealing with Vince while he was in the hospital and when he had to go to physiotherapy. She always was better at dealing with him when he was in one of his moods. I could have used Leon's help when I was making all the final arrangements for Jesse but he was no where to be found. So I guess I'm still a little upset and bitter at what I went through because they couldn't stand up to Dominic."

"I'd say you're entitled. It's not going to make this any easier Mi."

"I know. Let's go get it over with."

They left the apartment after Gem assured the cat they would be back soon and locked the door behind them. Gem felt her icy calm settle into place. She had a feeling she was going to need every bit of it. They drove back to the white wood frame that Mia had called home her entire life and pulled up to the curb. There were two cars neither girl had wanted to see. The red Chevy that marked Dominic's presence and an orange Toyota that seemed to upset Mia a great deal. Gem questioned her friend about it.

"It was Brian's car. He gave it to Dominic to allow him to escape," Mia answered.

"So that means that Dominic is here along with everyone else?"

"I would guess so," Mia answered, clearly angry. "How dare he just come waltzing back without talking to us first?"

"How are we supposed to tell Vince we just signed a lease on our own place in front of everyone?"

"I don't know, but it's going to come to that. We told Kenny we were moving in today. He won't think to check in on the cat if we don't," Mia reminded.

"Ok, let's get it over with. Maybe we should try to pack first. In case we have to make a quick getaway."

"Not worth trying it. They'll just come find us. You don't know Dom like I know Dom."

"Ok. As you say then, let's just get this over with."

They walked into the house and found everyone in the backyard. Dom had the barbeque going. A man and woman that Gem recognized from various pictures around the house as Letty and Leon were sitting at the picnic table. Vince was sitting off alone in a lawn chair sucking down a Corona as if it were oxygen. There were two empties beside his chair.

"This is going to be worse than we thought," Gem whispered to Mia as they took in the beer bottles beside Vince.

"No kidding," Mia answered.

No one had noticed them yet. Dominic was carrying on a conversation with Letty and Leon. The other man answered in a Midwest drawl. Letty scowled a lot, Gem noticed. Like she wasn't very happy and she planned on making sure that everyone wasn't happy with her. Dominic was the first to notice them. His face broke into a huge grin at the sight of his sister. It was like he hoped sleeping on their reunion would have put her in a better frame of mind regarding it. Gem was afraid he was to be sadly disappointed.

"There's my little sister. Aren't you going to come say hello to your favourite older brother?"

_So arrogant_, Gem mused. _He really thinks he's hot stuff, the be all and end all._

"I thought I told you yesterday that as far as I'm concerned you should have stayed gone."

"Well, you might as well get used to the idea we're back because we're not going anywhere," Dom tried to keep his voice light but didn't totally succeed. He turned to Gem. "I guess this is where I tell you that your stuff is in my room and soon you'll need to move it."

"She'll move it alright," Mia growled.

Gem shot her a look she hoped was calming. Mia stopped talking and simply simmered at Gem's side, clearly incensed. "Um," Gem started to speak. She wasn't sure how to tell them, and Vince with them, what she and Mia had done. "I guess that won't be a problem," she said finally. She felt Vince's gaze on her face. He was wondering why it wasn't a problem, she could tell. He thought it should be a problem and that normally she would make it one. He was right, under normal circumstances. But these were not normal circumstances.

She was also getting death glares from Letty. She wondered if it had anything to do with how Dominic hadn't stopped looking her up and down since they'd gotten back. She pulled her sweater closer together over her jogging top. Dominic really creeped her out. "I guess this is where _I_ tell _you_ that Mia and I rented our own apartment this afternoon and we're taking position tonight," Gem used his own words back on him. "We're just here to pack our stuff. The place came fully furnished."

"What?" Vince roared as he propelled himself out of his lawn chair. "You did what?"

"We decided we wouldn't live here if Dom and the rest of them were going to and we got our own place. You can just consider it me moving on," Gem stated as she finally met Vince's eyes. He flinched at his own words thrown back at him. "A little earlier than scheduled," she finished.

"We need to talk," Vince said as he started to advance on Gem.

"No, I think you said everything you had to say yesterday night."

Everyone was aware of the tension running between the pair. This included Dominic, who flinched on behalf of his friend. He could only imagine what Letty would do to him and certain parts of his anatomy if she heard him say even a quarter of what Vince had said last night. Vince was in for it. Dominic could remember many times when Letty had made him sleep on the couch but not one where either of them left the house permanently over it.

"Not by half I didn't. Let's go into the kitchen for a minute," Vince said before grabbing Gem by her upper arm and dragging her into the house.

♫

Mia moved off to his lawn chair and sat, watching the three people who had run out on her over a year ago with narrowed eyes, saying nothing. No one could think of a thing to say to her to break the ice either. Not after she announced she would rather move out of her childhood home, the only place she'd ever lived, than live with them again. Leon looked like he was more than half way to tears over the whole state of affairs and Letty could only be described as being in shock. It was Letty who got her emotions in check first.

"How you gonna play me like this Mia? We've known each other since we were nine. We're practically sisters for fuck's sake. Now you're going to move out of the only home you ever knew because we're living here? People you knew practically your whole life. Your own brother."

"I guess I just forgot who you were over the last year. The year where I was nursing someone you were supposed to love like a brother through nearly dying."

"I didn't just jet off on vacation Mia. I had reasons."

"I'm sure you did. I just don't find them a good enough excuse for what you did. I've moved on and in my life now there just isn't any room for my brother, or you guys, or any of your shit," Mia shrugged. "I have too much to worry about, what with going to class and running the café. I won't ask Gem to give up her job at the Cobalt so she can't work full time for me. That means I have to be a full time student and a full time business owner. It's going to be enough work without mixing this team's bullshit into it."

"That's harsh," Leon finally found his voice.

"So was burying Jesse alone," Mia retorted without mercy.

At the mention of his dead best friend's name Leon's eyes really teared up. He hung his head in an attempt to get his emotions under control. He'd wanted to call home so many times. He cursed himself now as ten times the fool for listening to Dominic yet again. He should have known better. Just like he should have known better at Race Wars. Just like he should have known better about not coming home after a few weeks. But he never seemed to know better. He always seemed to go with the flow, go with what was easy. That was him, easy going Leon. When would he learn? Now not only had he lost Jesse, he'd lost Mia and Vince too. It was clear his blue eyed friend resented the hell out of their intrusion into his life.

Dominic had filled him and Letty in on Gem and Vince's relationship with her. It had shocked the pair of them but Leon had been glad for Vince. It was about time ol coyote got to get the girl for once. Got to be front and center instead of stage right to Dom. But then, mostly due to Dominic and his bullshit, that got messed up too. Mia was right, and so was Vince. They'd made their choice to run to Mexico and not look back for a whole year. Once they'd done so they should have stuck with it. Should have known that nothing stayed static for a whole year, that things were bound to change in that time. And now they'd fucked it all up again, just like they had when the left the first time.

"I'm so sorry," Leon rasped out.

It was clear to Mia he really meant it. She just didn't think it was enough. He was a grown man, far past time for him to take a stand with his own morals and not follow Dominic. Dom had the morals of an alley cat on a lot of topics and Mia figured that all her friends should have known, as long as they had all known each other that Dominic was not the person to follow on any moral judgement call.

"As sure as I am you mean that, I'm sorry it just isn't enough. Not now. I'm going to go check on Gem and start to pack."

Mia stood up in a graceful movement and headed for the back door. Her three former family members watched her go, wondering just what had happened to change Mia from the person they knew to the girl she was now.

♫

"Vince let me go. You're hurting me!" Gem cried as the kitchen door clanged shut behind them.

"What are you talking about, talking about moving out of here?"

"Just what I said Vince. Mia and I got a place a few minutes from here. We signed a lease. It's a done deal. I won't live here with Dominic giving me the once over and sizing me up for some unknown reason all the time and with you playing at being with me all the while waiting for me to get my break and leave so you can get back to your life the way it use to be."

"Listen," Vince said and sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. The fact that he knew she had every right to be pissed off and to hate him was making it hard to stay angry. "I know you heard what I said to Dominic last night but I didn't mean any of it. I just said it to try and keep him from an interest in you. I have never been able to have a girlfriend that he didn't try to start shit with. I didn't want him to run that game with you."

"I can handle myself around guys like Dominic. You should have let me make up my own mind."

"You've never met a guy like Dominic. He's ruthless. He thinks that he's doing us a favour when he tries to get with our girls."

Something dawned on Gem just then. "You said those things to try and save yourself the pain of rejection. You thought I'd leave you for him if he tried to seduce me so you thought to downplay my significance so that you wouldn't look as wounded if Dominic tried his same tricks with me and I fell for them. You had so little faith in me that you started to set this up the second you thought he might do it again."

"It wasn't like that!"

"Then what was it like Vince? Why did you say those things?"

"Like I told you, to try and throw his interest off you. If he thought we were serious he would have done his best to come between us. He's like that."

"You should have trusted me to do the right thing, not said the things you said. I can't be around you right now Vince. I'm too upset and angry and being around Dom would just add to that. I'm sorry but the apartment with Mia is going to happen for at least six months. We signed a lease for that long."

"Can't you see I'm sorry!" Vince roared, finally totally loosing his cool.

"Sometimes sorry isn't good enough Vince. I don't know if I could ever trust you again. I'd always be questioning your motives. I can't live like that. Especially not with the added stress of an extra three people in the house. Three people I don't know, one of whom I can't stand and one of whom has already decided to hate me. I'm sorry but my decision stands. I'm moving out."

"Fine, whatever. Go on and do what you want. It's not like I really care anyway," Vince took another cold beer out of the fridge and twisted the cap off.

"Vince, don't undo all the good you did in your life over Dominic. He's not worth it."

"I don't know what you mean," Vince sneered.

Mia walked through the back door just then. "Everything ok in here?"

"Just fucken super," Vince smart mouthed back at her before taking another swig of his drink.

"Don't get surly with me Vincent. You brought this all on yourself when you shot your big stupid mouth off."

"Don't start with me Mia. I'm not in the mood."

"Come on Mia, let's go pack," Gem put an end to their bickering, knowing it wouldn't solve anything. Vince would just get drunker and meaner and Mia would just get angrier and shriller. "We should be in the new place in time for supper if we start now."

Gem took Mia's hand and they walked up the stairs together. A few hours later they both had all they were taking with them packed up and loaded into their cars. They stood together on the sidewalk in front of the white house, looking up at the familiar facade.

"Mia, are we doing the right thing?"

"I don't know. But I think it was the only thing to do."

"Ok. I'll meet you at the new place then."

They both got in their cars and drove away, toward their new home. Neither of them saw the blue eyed face in the window of Mia's room, watching them leave.

When they arrived at the new place they each took a few boxes and used their keys to get in. It took several trips up the elevator to unload both cars and when it was done they both flopped back onto the couch tiredly. Gem looked at Mia. "You mind if I take the back bedroom?"

"Not at all. I think that was the one the other lady used. I'm not thrilled with the idea of sleeping in her bed," Mia said before looking at Gem sheepishly, realizing what she'd said. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm going to strip the bed and wash all the sheets and turn the mattress. You should really do the same. Who knows how long it's been since anyone used your room if it was the guest room?"

"Good idea."

With the mundane household chores to occupy their minds, neither girl had much time to dwell on what they had been through over the past two days. They ordered pizza in for supper, neither wanting to take the time to cook in between all the unpacking and repacking. Gem packed up all the clothes of the woman who had lived in her room before her.

It made her sad to think the older woman hadn't had anyone to come and pack her things. Now it was up to her and Mia to do it and Gem figured they'd take the clothes to goodwill. It wasn't like either of them could use them. What to do with Mrs. Smith's jewellery box she didn't know. The woman hadn't had a daughter, granddaughter or even a niece who would want her jewels? That seemed odd. Some of the pieces were beautiful antiques. Gem would bet they were fake but they were still pretty. Well, it was the loss of the family that they hadn't wanted anything out of the apartment Gem decided with a shrug. She and Mia would share it. She liked to think that Mrs. Smith would just be happy to know someone was enjoying her pretty things.

Gem found herself thinking of the departed woman often over the course of the evening. She figured it wasn't that strange, considering she was packing up her life into boxes for goodwill and chattering away to the woman's cat, who with a typical Siamese mindset was getting into everything and chattering back the whole time. Gem looked at Allegro and the cat looked back. "Well Ally, what would your mother want us to do with her clothes hum? You're the only one around here who knew her."

"Merow," Ally answered before batting one of his fur mice at Gem, which she promptly threw across the room for him. He fetched it back, his lithe feline body moving with enviable grace across the room.

"He's already got me trained," She mused out loud with a wry smile as she threw the mouse again. The cat depending on her was oddly comforting. Allegro would never grow out of needing her. He would always need her for food and companionship. Unlike people, who changed their minds about what they wanted as swiftly as the wind changed from north to south. The cat returned with his prize and again dropped it in her lap. Gem tossed it again and again he was off like a white and brown blur. She put a few more things away into a drawer close to where she was sitting.

She realized she was all moved in and Mrs. Smith was all packed up. Like Mia, she didn't really believe in ghosts or spirits but if she was honest with herself she felt a calm, soothing presence in the apartment. It felt like this was meant to be, no matter how much it hurt to do it. Brushing her hands off on her jeans she left her room and went to find Mia. Mia was crouched down on her hands and knees sweeping dust bunnies out from under her bed, a kerchief around her head to keep her hair tidy.

"Sweeping under the bed was not part of Mrs. Smith's housekeeping routine," Mia observed before sneezing.

"If I keep a house half as clean at eighty as she kept this place I'll be laughing," Gem retorted. _As long as I don't die alone without a single friend or family member to care_, she corrected herself in her head.

Mia stood up with the dustpan in hand. "I guess you're right. The place is pretty clean otherwise. I think I'm going to like having hardwood floors everywhere."

"Easy to clean at least," Gem answered. Allegro came bounding into the room and dropped his mouse at Gem's feet. She stooped to pick it up.

"I see you've already made a friend," Mia observed, grinning.

"Yeah, he figured out how easy I am to train. I guess it says sucker all over me," Gem said as she released the mouse down the hall. The cat went skittering after it.

"Don't go putting yourself down over things Gem. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just how things are. I use to say Dom was like gravity, everything got pulled to him. The boys, Letty, Brian, there was no one who could resist his pull. But now I see maybe it wasn't a magnetic force that did it, but his iron control over everything in his life. And he didn't pull you in. You were never interested."

"To be fair I heard all the gritty details before I ever even met the man. I was biased from long before the day he showed up."

"Even still. Brian should have been too. He was a cop and Dom a criminal. Brian had a file about Dominic, he was briefed about the type of criminal record Dominic had. But he got pulled in anyway."

"Ever think you had a lot to do with that?"

"How so?" Mia asked, head cocked slightly to one side.

Gem threw the mouse again to satisfy the jumpy cat before she formulated an answer. "Dominic told Brian about his time in prison, about how much he'd hate to go back."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, Brian knew how much you loved Dom, what it would do to you to lose him. Maybe he decided to let Dom go and keep him out of jail to save you the heartbreak of seeing your brother in jail again. He just didn't count on Dom playing the jerk and leaving you here alone while he ran out of the country. Brian likely thought he was sacrificing his relationship with you and Dominic so you both could run off together."

"I never thought of it like that before. Dom was always telling people he'd die before he went back to prison. Maybe he told Brian and Brian decided to do what he did based on that. But Brian and Dom became good friends. It wasn't totally over me and how I'd feel."

"Maybe not but it did play a part. I'd bet on it. Too bad that kind of selfless behaviour out of others didn't inspire Dominic to grow up and become more selfless himself."

"No kidding," Mia agreed as she watched Gem throw the mouse for Allegro again. "So here we are with a new apartment and a new cat, all in one day. What do you think of that?"

"I think it was a necessary evil that's going to work out for the best. I just don't know when it's going to work out right now," Gem answered as she arched her back to work some of the kinks out. "I'm exhausted and it's only nine."

"I'm pretty tired out myself. Eight am is going to come pretty early though."

"Don't remind me," Gem groaned. The stupid café was her problem tomorrow morning. "I better get some rest."

"Me too. I'll see you in the morning."

"Night," Gem said on her way out the door. Mia answered in kind and Gem headed into her own room to change for the night and grab her box of toiletries. She headed for the bathroom and got ready for bed before heading back to her room. She climbed into bed and tried to go to sleep. She tossed from side to side for about half an hour before she gave up and got up, switching the reading lamp which was on the dressing table in her room on. She had no use for a dressing table but she did have a use for a writing desk so this was where she had laid out her notebooks and pencils. With her guitars on stands in the corner and her pictures of her family and friends on the dresser the room felt a bit more like home than it had.

She flipped open her notebook and started to write. A few minutes later Allegro jumped into her lap and made room for himself there. Her left hand fell to idly stroking the cat's smooth fur as her right hand wrote out lyrics and music as though the devil was on her tail. Like so many of her songs written after issues with Vince, her current project just seemed to pour out of her and onto paper.

When her eyes grew too tired to go on she squinted at the clock. _Two am_, she read. She groaned in annoyance. She had to be up again in six hours. With an exhausted yawn she set the cat on the floor and turned off the lamp. She crawled back into bed, all her restless energy from her first failed attempt at sleep long gone and forgotten. She lay in the darkness, her head on an unfamiliar pillow and fought against tears. This wasn't where she belonged. She sniffled.

As though to tell her she was wrong and that she was just where she belonged Allegro jumped onto the bed and pranced merrily onto the unoccupied portion of Gem's pillow before curling up in a ball only a cat could master. His happy purr was a soothing noise in the uncommon stillness of the night. The old brick building was solidly built and Gem was at the rear of it on the top floor. The night had a still silentness that was alien to her after the constant noises of occupation at the boarding house and the constant noises of an old house at Mia's. The cat stretched out on the pillow and began to gently kneed his paws on the back of Gem's head, purring all the while. She finally slept, comforted by the company of her feline bedmate.

She awoke to the sound of laughter. Her eyes opened slowly and she squinted at Mia blearily from the bed. "What are you laughing at?" She croaked.

"You have a cat asleep on your head," Mia giggled.

Gem raised her hand and felt the pillow above her head. There was, in fact, a cat there.

"Merrow," Allegro said good morning in typical Siamese fashion. That was to say he began a conversation with them. He hopped off the bed, chattering at Mia the whole way to the door, and past her, where he waited looking back over his shoulder as if in puzzlement over why she wasn't following him yet.

"I think he wants breakfast," Gem said as she swung her feet over the edge of the bed.

"I'll feed him while you get up. Coffee's ready in the kitchen."

Coffee wasn't something she really cared for but at eight am after six hours sleep she could totally see why people drank the stuff. She would need the kick to get through the morning. She pulled on her robe and wandered out to the kitchen, muffling a huge yawn with the back of her hand. She poured herself a cup of hot coffee before adding a couple heaping spoons of sugar and a huge splash of cream. Allegro jumped up on the counter to investigate her beverage while she was stirring it before he licked up a few drops of the cream which has spilt onto the countertop.

"Did Mrs. Smith let you up on the counters?"

"Merrow."

"That's what I thought," Gem replied before lifting the cat back down again onto the floor. She stood in the kitchen drinking her coffee slowly and slowly she started to feel much more awake. But feeling awake brought back all the memories of yesterday. She tried to give herself a pep talk about taking things one day at a time. It would have worked better if she hadn't answered herself along the lines of 'you're a fool if you believe that Gem Davis!'

Once she had a cup of coffee in her she headed toward the bathroom and got ready for the day before heading into her room and dressing comfortably for her day selling milk, bread and junk food as well as making sandwiches. Monday was her day to run the place alone from open to close. It was not a day she was looking forward to by any stretch.

"I'm out of here for school!" Mia called from somewhere close to the front door. "See you for supper."

"Yeah, see you then," Gem called back. She heard the door close behind Mia and lock.

When Mia was gone she headed out to the kitchen for a second cup of coffee. Like it or not she really needed it's perk up abilities. It had suddenly occurred to her she was going to have to fill her family and co-workers in on her new living situation. That was only going to raise questions she didn't want to answer about why it was she and Mia had moved out of the house. As she finished her second cup of steaming java she caught sight of a clock. "Oh darn!" If she didn't get a real move on she was going to be late. "See you later Ally! Behave." She called on her way out the door before locking it and dashing to the elevator. She was going to have to start getting up even earlier on Monday. What horrid way to start the week.

Five o'clock couldn't come soon enough, Gem mused as she leaned on the counter of the café and watched the hands move around the face of the clock at what felt like a snail's pace. She hadn't counted on the job being so boring. She had seen enough of Mia during the days to know that it wasn't the most intellectually challenging job but it hadn't seemed quite so dull until she was there in the midafternoon after the lunch rush time personally.

At least Mia had her school books to keep her occupied. She didn't even have that. All she had was her notebook and she was working on finishing her song for Thursday. She wasn't quite sure if she was happy with any of the music for the song but the bass line. She normally would have tried to get together with the rest of the guys the next afternoon to work it out but she just wasn't sure where Vince stood as far as the band went. She wasn't even sure he was going to show up to play, let alone make time to help her fix her music.

She sighed and leaned her chin on her upturned palm as she looked down at her open notebook. She flipped to a blank page. Putting pencil to paper she began to write.

Wanted: Guitar player.

She bit the end of her pencil. It felt very wrong to be writing the ad that would essentially cut all ties she had with Vince and cut him fully out of her life. Indigo Sound was her last tie to him and she was starting face the reality that she was going to have to cut him out of that too.

'_Local band needs lead guitarist. Original music style. Influenced by such artists as Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Blind Mellon, and Stevey Ray Vauhn_.'

What could she put next? Must be able to memorize my songs after reading the sheet music once because I never know what I'm going to write until my messed up life tosses me around for a week? She blew some hair off her forehead in frustration. Where on earth was she ever going to find someone who could live up to Vince?

♫

Monday was not going much better for Vince. True to his word, Dominic had showed up bright and early at the garage, Leon and Letty in tow. Without giving it much thought he'd barked some last minute orders at Bill and walked into the office, slamming the door behind him. He wasn't ready to deal with Dom again. It had been hard enough to know that the bald man was sleeping in the house when Gem wasn't. Now he had to share the garage again too?

All these things had become his over the year Dom had been gone and now here he was, walking right back in like he was entitled. Dom wasn't entitled to shit all, and he didn't intend to play kiss up about it either. Dom was a prick and he could just damn well get use to being treated like one.

Given that he was sure Dom and the rest would remember well what a bad idea it was to bother him when he was in such a temper he never counted on any of them getting up the nerve so he never thought to lock the door. A few moments after he'd slammed it closed hard enough to rattle the glass behind the aluminium blind the door opened, admitted someone and closed again. He didn't even bother looking up from the point on the battered desk he had all his attention focused on while he rubbed his temples.

"Get out," he growled.

"Jesus V," Leon drawled.

Vince looked up in shock. Leon was not who he had been expecting. He didn't have anything to say, he just looked at his former friend.

"You really never going to talk to me again dawg? We got a lotta history to just trash V."

"I woulda thought so too, until you guys left me to do your jail time, if I didn't die in the hospital that is," Vince snorted derisively. "I'm fucken sorry that I'm bitter that you guys got a Mexican vacation while I got therapy and full custody of weepy, heartbroken Mia. Not to mention some very unappealing scars."

Leon hung his head. "I never really thought of Mia. Shit V, I just never really fucken thought. I'm a fuck up, a moron. What can I say? I just went with Dom, like I always went with Dom. Come on dawg, we all know me telling Dom I thought Mia was right was me bein' a loud mouth."

That brought a grudging, tiny smile to Vince's face. It was true. That was a lot of lip for Leon. Memories of lying alone and hurting in the hospital wiped the smile off a second later.

"What stopped that loud ass fucken mouth from finding a god damn telephone?" Vince rasped out. They were skirting dangerously close to talking about feelings.

"Dom told us that if we called you guys and the heat was on us not you two than we'd bring it all crashing down if the house and shop lines were tapped. I guess I just figured he was talking some sense and didn't try. Again, I'm an asshole. I shoulda called V," Leon said, his emotion causing his voice to catch. He had to take a moment to compose himself before he spoke again. "I shoulda called. I shoulda came home and made the final arrangements for the kid. He was my responsibility. I never shoulda let him race Tran in the first place. Fuck, Brian tried to tell him not to and I didn't step in then either."

Vince contemplated Leon's bowed head. He knew what a force Dom was. It really wasn't easy to come up against that thick, bald, hard head. Leon really didn't have the personality to lock horns with Dom. But that just didn't excuse him from what he'd done either. In the long run though, Vince figured Leon he could forgive. Letty and Dom would be a much harder sell.

Letty had the smart mouth to put Dom in his place in spades. She wasn't afraid to use it either.

"I see where you're comin' from brotha. I don't know what to say though. It's gonna take time and Dom barging his way back in don't help."

"I tried to tell him, I swear. I tried to tell him to call first or do somethin' to let you and Mia know we were gonna come back. He didn't listen. He figured that things would be just like he left them. He never listens. Dom can't see the big picture, can't see beyond the end of his own nose."

"No kidden," Vince sighed, thinking of Gem. He wanted to go down to Toretto's and try to talk to her again. He just didn't know if she'd throw him out on his face as soon as look at him. He wasn't really willing to find out this soon after he'd told her he didn't care what she did either. He was always sticking a size twelve in his mouth. He shook his head with a rueful smile. _You'd think she'd be use to it._

Like Leon could read his mind, he echoed his thoughts. "So, will the blonde chica ever talk to you again dawg?"

"I dunno man. I'm always fuckin' up with her. She always calmed down before. She's got her ways to make me pay when I say something stupid, I'll tell you that. But this time I really messed up. She never actually moved out and got her own place before. That's pretty permanent," Vince stared off into space for a moment. A huge grin came over his face. "I'd love to see her go one on one with Dominic. This girl is one cool number. She'd talk circles around him until his head just blew up."

"That I would like to see," Leon agreed with a laugh. "Say, wanna go get a beer? They'll be fine around here without us for a few hours. Dom is busy trying to order around your guys and they're busy ignoring him. Dom finally settled for pulling in the Mazda and ordering Letty to get to work on the Silvia. There's likely still fur flying around the shop."

"Yeah, let's grab one somewhere then."

"That reminds me," Leon looked Vince in the eye. "Thanks for taking such good care of my car. After what I did I didn't deserve it and I wouldn't even be able to be angry if you had given it away. But not only did you keep it, you kept it just the way I left it. I was scared shitless that the cops woulda taken it and I'd never see it again."

"Some of the guys from wars moved them for us when we didn't come back and I collected them after I got out."

"Well, just, thanks man."

"Not like I coulda let some other team end up with that car," Vince brushed off the thanks uncomfortably.

Leon laughed. "Guess not."

They left the shop together and drove off in the Maxima. Leon wasn't oblivious to the dirty looks he got from Dom and Letty in the process. He was afraid their team could end up even more fractured long before it ever got put back together and he had a funny feeling whether they ever became a solid team again or not hinged more on how far Mia and her friend Gem came around to the idea than on anything else.

♫

When the hands on the clock pointed out five pm Gem was out the door and half way toward having it locked. She couldn't wait to get home and get the day over with. Maybe she'd try out the new tub. It was of the old fashioned variety, almost deep enough to swim in and she knew she had some lavender bath salts someplace.

She parked her car behind the building and waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive and carry her up to her floor. When it let her off she dug her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the front door. She walked into the apartment, wanting nothing more than to curl up in a ball and be alone with her misery. She noticed as soon as she shut the door behind herself that something smelled wonderful. She followed her nose into the kitchen and found Mia in the middle of making a lasagne.

Gem took in the way Mia looked with her hair tied back standing over the stove with a bottle of wine on the counter. A few wisps of hair had escaped her ponytail and were framing her face. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a red patterned tank top, one of her favourites. She had oven mitts on and her face was slightly flushed from the heat and moisture of the cooking she was doing. It was so like the first time they'd gotten together yet so different at the same time she promptly burst into tears. The noise startled Mia, who'd been listening to the radio and hadn't even heard Gem come into the house. After a few seconds of recovering from the shock of turning around and finding she was no longer alone Mia rushed to Gem's side.

"Oh my god Gem, what happened?" Mia was imagining the worst. That Gem found out her brother was hurt or her parents were sick or that the store blew up or something equally grave. Mia figured it had to be really bad news for it to upset her steady friend so badly.

"You're making supper just like you were when I first met you, but everything is so messed up since then. It smells like home in here but it shouldn't be home. I miss things the way they were!" Later it would occur to Gem how odd it was for her to be the one crying on Mia's shoulder but for now all she knew was things didn't feel right and she had to get it out of her system.

"I miss things the way they were too but everything happens for a reason," Mia tried to reassure. She actually felt strong and confident since she and Gem had moved out. Granted it had only been one day but, to Mia, it felt like enough to know that she was doing the right thing.

She had become far too dependant on the people around her. She felt like she was always in need of someone to stand up for her, to reassure her, to be strong for her. Now she had her chance to return the favour. And by some miracle she actually felt up to the job. It was empowering. It felt euphoric. But none of that helped poor Gem, who was clearly taking things very badly. Mia supposed she had the right, all things considered. She had been onto a good thing with Vince, good for both of them, only to see it blow up in their faces.

Mia figured she should have been more upset than she was over moving out of her father's house and finding out her brother was a selfish coward. Instead she just felt normal for the first time in a long time. She was a twenty three year old woman who lived in a flat with a girlfriend and went to college. That was a pretty typical existence. She was no longer the sister of the great street legend himself Dominic Toretto. She was just Mia. No one was sucking up to her for an introduction to her brother, no one was pitying her because of something her brother had done because now she moved in circles where no one knew her brother. To top it all off, now she didn't even live in his house. She just hoped that Gem came around.

Mia knew she would, given enough time. It had yet to occur to her that Gem still needed Vince on Thursday nights.

"Why don't you go lay down until supper?" She asked in a soothing voice.

"I think I'll do that," Gem answered without much enthusiasm and shuffled off to her room, Allegro running along with her.

Gem didn't come out of her funk for her shift on Tuesday at the Cobalt either. She was still down and it showed. She did her best to avoid telling Barry and Barbara there was anything wrong but they figured it out. With her moping around and Vince back to getting loaded in his corner it was hard to miss that all was not well on the home front. It was also hard to miss the way Gem refused to talk to Vince and the way he spent the whole night watching her go out of her way to ignore him. Barry cornered Gem late in the evening.

"So, what did he do now?"

"I'd rather we didn't talk about this," Gem answered. No clarification was necessary as to what Barry was talking about.

"Gem, I can see you're upset. What happened between you two?"

"His missing friends came back and we had a huge fight over some things he said. When Dom and the others decided to move back into the house Mia and I moved out. We found a place on Sunday and moved right in."

"You should have come to me! I would have given you a place to stay until you found someplace suitable. You didn't need to move into the first place available."

"It's ok. It's a nice place. We lucked out. I'll be fine. I'm just still adjusting is all."

"Ok," Barry decided to let the subject drop, seeing that it made Gem uncomfortable and even more unhappy to discuss it. "But if you need anything just let me know.

"I will," Gem assured. She made a break for it after that and went back to waiting on tables on the other side of the bar from Vince.

On Wednesday she finally broke down and called Tamica. She needed help to get the music right for her song and she wasn't going to ask Vince. Seeing Tamica unleashed another barrage of questions about what was wrong and what was going on.

Gem went through the story again, filling in more details for Tamica than she had for Barry. They fixed the music, sitting at the counter of Toretto's in the afternoon lull. Tamica seemed to know what Gem wanted more than she did herself, which didn't surprise Gem in the least. She knew her emotions and life were in turmoil. She felt like she knew herself about as well as she knew Leon.

Then they closed up an hour early-Gem was sure Mia wouldn't mind-and drove into the nearest grocery store where they loaded up on ice cream, cookies, chips, and the obligatory mountain of chocolate. They stopped at a video store and rented a whole stack of sappy movies and headed back to Gem's apartment. Gem called in sick before she and Tamica started pigging out and watching fluffy movies. When Mia got home she joined in.

After crying her eyes out at chick flicks all night and eating herself sick on comfort food while surrounded by her real friends Gem actually felt a lot better. That was until everyone went home and she and Mia went to bed. When she was alone in her dark room the good feelings went away again. The night was so silent. Until Allegro jumped up onto her bed and curled up on her pillow again, purring. With a sigh Gem closed her eyes and let sleep claim her.

On Thursday Gem put in her half day for Mia at Toretto's before heading home to get ready for her performance. She had learned her song two ways.

Way one was when she played her bass and the song sounded like music because Vince showed up to play lead guitar. Way two was what happened if Vince didn't show up and she had to play her acoustic guitar in the lead role and it sounded like a cacophony of discordant sounds. She was hoping for way one, as much as she knew it would hurt to see him so close up again so soon.

She took a long bath while she had the apartment to herself, hoping to relax. It didn't really work. She tried to read but she couldn't concentrate. In the end she just got dressed for work and headed down to her car. She drove around the city aimlessly, just killing time until she decided she had better eat something and went through a drive-thru for supper. She headed to work after throwing out her wrappers.

She tried to put the same amount of effort and joy into her work as she had before but it proved impossible. She knew there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't feel the same way as she had before but she tried to carry on as best she could. Mia arrived early at seven. Gem hadn't been sure if she would come down or not but was glad for the moral support all the same. She took a few minutes to sit down with Mia before she went to meet Tamica and Elliott back stage.

Mia was enjoying her new life so much Gem found it almost painful. Everything was still going so well for Mia. She had gotten use to her brother being gone and it seemed like she was easily able to pretend he still was. Gem couldn't pretend she had never known Vince. She had tried but it hadn't done any good. She knew it was a crock of bull and her mind wouldn't let her forget it. With a great deal of effort that made her feel much older than her twenty two years Gem got up and headed back to the green room. Tamica and Elliott were already there. There was no sign of Vince.

"There's something we need to talk about," Gem said as she looked at her friends.

"What's up?" Elliott asked. He had only the barest details of the situation Gem was in.

"I've got the ad written to run in some of the local papers so we can find another guitar player," she explained briefly to Elliott why they had to look. "We knew it was coming someday and its just come sooner, that's all. We'll make it through it now just like we would have then. I don't want to say anything to him until we've made some time to audition some people. That's if we get any applicants," Gem sighed.

"We'll find somebody," Tamica said reassuringly.

Before Elliott could add his two cents the door opened. All eyes turned toward it, wondering if it was going to be Vince or Celeste. It turned out to be Vince. Tamica and Elliott watched as Gem looked down at what she was reading and Vince stood in front of her, looking down at her bent head and appearing very uncomfortable.

As pissed off as they were at Vince, they also knew the large man had said stupid things before and Gem had always forgiven him. The added presence and stress was the real reason why this fight was still on in their minds. They shared a look. Elliott stood up and coughed forcefully. "I'm going to go get a drink," he said.

"Me too," Tamica chimed in. They both left the room swiftly. Tamica looked back over her shoulder on her way out the door. Gem looked up and their eyes met. To Tamica, Gem looked plain terrified to be left alone with Vince. Tamica hoped she was doing the right thing as she went up to the bar and ordered a rum and Coke. If there was ever a night she needed a drink to get through with her sanity, this was it.

"So, you gonna let me play or what?" Vince asked. He was put off by the way Gem still hadn't acknowledged him.

"I wouldn't have let you show up if I wasn't," Gem snapped. She surprised herself with her tone.

"Gem," Vince started. He paused with a sigh and ran his hand through his hair.

Gem looked up just as he did so. She fought her need to get up and run her hands through his hair as well before she hugged him. It had only been two days since she had last seen him but it had felt like a lifetime while she had wondered how he was and how and what he was doing. "Yes," she asked instead, hating the breathy, anticipatory tone in her voice.

"I didn't mean to have you hear those things," he finally said.

"But you did mean them?" Gem asked incredulously.

"No, I didn't mean them!" Vince roared indignantly. "I told you that," he paused and took a deep breath, trying to get his temper in check. He carried on through gritted teeth. "I didn't want you to have to put up with being hassled by Dom. "I guess I even understand why you thought you had to move out. But do you really have to cut yourself off from, from," Vince sighed angrily. He was angry at putting what he felt into words. "Did you have to cut yourself off from me all together? I've done and said stupid stuff before. It didn't make you move out."

"You never said stupid stuff that hurt me so bad before in an effort to impress some stupid friend you hadn't seen in a year and shouldn't have been talking to or entertaining in the first place before," Gem said as she cut to the heart of the matter.

"I can't kick him out of his own house."

"No, but Mia could have, if it hadn't seemed like you were willing to negotiate. It hardly matters now Vince. What's done is done. Dom moved home, you made him think I was just some easy conquest while I was around and now I'm not anymore."

"It wasn't like that!"

"I'm sure you really think that Vince, but it's not how it feels to me."

Vince was saved from coming up with an answer by the return of Tamica and Elliott. "Nalia wants us now," Elliott imparted.

"Ok," Gem said as she stood up and handed Vince his music. "It's not too challenging so you should be able to pick it up ok."

"It won't be a problem," Vince said.

His tone gave Gem pause. He had never sounded so humble to her before. She snuck a look at him but he was simply engrossed in reading the notes on the paper.

They took the stage. Gem waved quickly at Mia, trying to let her friend know things were as ok as was possible.

When they were all ready Vince started to play. The song started on a guitar intro.

"_Driving away from the wreck of the day and the light's always red in the rear-view. Desperately close to a coffin of hope, I'd cheat destiny just to be near you._

_And if this is giving up, then I'm giving up. If this is giving up, then I'm giving up, giving up. On love, On love_."

The song was very simple but the message was anything but. The audience sat in silence. It was like they understood what they were hearing was no contrived verse, but a real tale of someone's loss.

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

"_Driving away from the wreck of the day and I'm thinking 'bout calling on Jesus._

_'Cuz love doesn't hurt so I know I'm not falling in love, I'm just falling to pieces._

_And if this is giving up then I'm giving up. If this is giving up then I'm giving up, giving up. On love, On love_."

♫

Mia was always slightly envious of her friend's ability to sum up a situation so complex in so few straight forward words. She watched, enthralled, as Gem's clear voice and poignant words held the audience in her spell. Mia, well versed by now in the art of reading Gem, could see the stress her friend was under and just how much effort it was taking her to hold herself together and pretend this was just another performance, just another show.

"_And maybe I'm not up for being a victim of love. All my resistance will never be distance enough_. _Ahhhhhohohohohhhhhh._"

"_Driving away from the wreck of the day and it's finally quiet in my head. Driving alone and finally on my way home to the comfort of my bed. And if this is giving up than I'm giving up. If this is giving up than I'm giving up. On love. On love_."

As the end of the guitar music trailed away so did most of the hope Vince had they could work things out. Gem's song had made her sound down right finished with him. Instead of someone he had real feelings for, someone he might have been able to spend the rest of his life with he now had Dom and someone else's dream for musical glory.

♫

_Through me you pass into the city of woe:  
Through me you pass into eternal pain:  
Through me among the people lost for aye._

_Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd:  
To rear me was the task of power divine,  
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love._

_Before me things create were none, save things  
Eternal, and eternal I endure._

_  
**All hope abandon ye who enter here.**_

_- Dante, The Devine Comedy_


	10. Consider This

AN: Hello all. Let me start by saying a big thank you for the reviews. They were a big motivator when I was feeling like I didn't want to do much of anything. Adding to the delay was the fact I recently quit my job in a hair trigger reaction to the way they constantly shit on me and then found myself frantic to find a new job. Being unemployed was something I was longing for but not planning on. Finding a new job is not an easy thing to accomplish when you're a girl who's a mechanic by trade in a small, traditional community. But I did luck into a new job, a better job as luck would have it, and life is almost good.

On that note, not that I mind crit, or flames or whatever bones you wanna toss my way, but it really grinds my gears when someone can't be specific with their criticism! If you hated it, great! Please tell me _why_ specifically you did, so that I might have a hope of fixing what I'm doing wrong. I can't learn from my mistakes if no one points them out. I'm sure I'm making some, I'm just not sure what they are.

On a semi-related note to all that, I'm not sure about this chapter. I've rewritten it ten times, deleted parts and just started them over, reworded things, made the dialog simpler, more complex and it just goes on from there. I'm not totally happy with this. I just don't know how to fix it. I guess it doesn't help that I can't quite put my finger on what's leaving the slightly off taste in my mouth. I'm liking it until three quarters of the way through but then it gets kinda wonky to me. I know I'm crazy, so maybe it's just me. I've just come to the decision that if I can't fix it after three weeks of trying I'm never going to.

Also, I know what I want to see happen by the end but the mechanics of it are still a little lost on me. I'm not sure how I'm going to have everything happen the way it will, but I know what the outcome will be already. Don't worry, I won't forget Mia. As for what will happen with Gem and Vince, I'm not quite sure. Reality and romance are going to be a hard one to mix in this case but I think it'll be worth it in the end and I think I know what I would like to see happen. Let me know what you think, please. Ciao, Tempest.

PS: Deerintheheadlights, you deserve some sorta award or some shit for reading my long winded rambling in one sitting. Damn, this is like 180 some odd thousand words long. Since I've only made it through one fic this long in one sitting and had crossed eyes the next day, you flatter me sir or madam. ;)

**Catalyst**

By – _TempestRaces_

Chapter 10 – **Consider This**

**A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are meant for.**

**William Shedd**

Long shadows crept around the room with seeking fingers, finding their way under dressers and the bed and crawling up the walls. The bed coverings were mussed and tossed back, showing evidence someone had occupied their surface for a brief time. A time that didn't allow the occupant to find the rest they sought. Rather than a blonde head, a taupe and sable cat occupied center stage on the feather pillow. He slept blissfully as only a cat can, curled into a ball, chin resting on the ankle of a rear leg.

She sat at her dressing table cum desk, staring at a blank piece of paper, her chin pillowed on her palm as her elbow was propped on the desk's shiny surface. The sole source of light in the room was a antique desk lamp. The beam of light emitted by the single, low wattage bulb was concentrated on top of her work, making the unbroken white of her notebook page all the more conspicuous, as though it were a spotlight to highlight her failure to fill the paper with her efforts. It was Thursday night, late. After her performance on stage she had put on a credible appearance of normalcy at work. She had smiled and laughed with her friends. Waited on people in a friendly manner, like she was normal. Like everything was ok.

Like seeing him again hadn't taken what was left of her sanity and tossed it to the corners of the earth on the four winds. It had been one of the hardest things she had ever done in her life to go on with her night. To take orders from laughing people out enjoying a night of fun and relaxation when for all she knew she would never enjoy a night out again. Her memories of going out on the town were all wrapped up with other memories now.

Memories of him.

Every time she thought about going out, about dance clubs or even her uncle's bar in San Francisco she thought about doing it with him at her side. And that lead to the inevitable recollections of how she thought that he would be by her side forever. That she would be his to care for not just for an hour, a day, or a year, but for a life time. She couldn't help but dwell on how foolish it had been for her to imagine a future she had never been lead to expect. Had never been promised. Had never discussed.

There had been no talk of a happily ever after. She had merely allowed herself to envision it, to assume it would be. Not only because she wanted it but because they both seemed so content with how things were going. Never had Vince alluded to any desire to end things, that he wasn't happy with their situation.

He had shown her things important to him. His garage, the races, cars and the world exclusive to the upper echelon of fast, tuned road rockets. He had shared his guitar and love of playing, something he had kept from everyone but the very inner circle of family for years up until that point. Then, despite his preference for flying low, under everyone's radar, he had joined her on stage. At first, out of a false sense of indebtedness, but later out of some need or desire to be there for himself.

But yet, here she was. Sitting staring at a blank slate with her legs tucked under her, dressed for bed in her guilty little secret-one of his tank tops. The fatuous nature of her task wasn't lost on her. She was sitting in her room, practically in the dark with the only light highlighting the fact she was trying to write a song to be played by a band he was in, wearing his tank top because it still smelled slightly of his soap and aftershave, bemoaning the fact she couldn't forget him, couldn't get over him and couldn't move on.

The perversity of human nature had never been illustrated so clearly for her. She wanted to have her cake and eat it too. She claimed she wanted to forget, to move on. Yet she surrounded herself with things to remind her of him. His tank top, his talented fingers on guitar strings she needed to make her music, his childhood crush-now her best friend. His presence and position in the most important thing in her world to date, after their relationship; her band. She fought hysterical laughter and settled instead for snorting derisively through her nose.

Ridiculous.

The ocean of white in front of her sat mocking, glowing gently in the light of her desk lamp.

There were no more songs to be found in her current emotional state. It had cost all she had to give to live it on stage in front of so many people once. She would not reprise it from a different angle for another night. She didn't have the strength to do it. So instead she sat, pen caught between her teeth as she tried to think, its ink rendered useless. She gave up on getting any writing done tonight with a sigh. The endeavour was futile. Yet she didn't go back to bed. There was little point. Sleep would be ever elusive with her mind this busy, and she well knew it.

♫

Mia lay awake, only a thin wall separating her from her friend. Gem kept her outward appearance so together. But when you knew where to look the cracks were becoming apparent. She hated to show weakness and had become good at hiding it from the world through a lot of practise. Mia knew she had shrugged off all the pointed barbs and their stings ever since grade school and the habit had become ingrained with so much practice. She was the cool one, the level head. Some day the stress of keeping herself so contained was going to make her explode. Mia knew for a fact she was correct in this assumption because it had happened to her. She was just really starting to put herself back together now.

It wasn't like she didn't have her own issues to deal with. Dom, Leon and Letty approached her at work and on the phone. They wanted their chances to explain themselves, to salvage some of their previously close relationship. It wasn't a relationship Mia was sure was salvageable.

However, as Gem remained involved in her own issues and her own world it became harder and harder to ignore their entreaties. It wasn't that Mia begrudged Gem the right to deal with the blow she had been dealt introspectively. It was just that she had never been a person who enjoyed living alone. She craved companionship and longed for the times when she had Gem and Vince to care for and to depend on her.

Now Vince was presumably taking care of himself back at the house and Gem was hardly ever home. When she was she was holed up in her room. Supposedly, writing more songs. Allowing herself to dwell ad nauseam on what she had heard was more accurate, Mia was sure. She did her best to be there for her friend, even though Gem's aloof demeanour made it difficult, but sooner or later Gem was going to have to help herself. It was something else that Mia had learned the hard way. It was fine to depend on your friends, but you had to want to move on yourself too. It seemed for now, Gem wanted to wallow in her pain.

Not to mention she went out of her way to be alone. It was hard to be there for someone you never saw. At least Vince came looking for her company, even if he wouldn't take her advice about how to patch things up with Miss Gemmalynn 'I don't need anyone because they just hurt me in the end' Davis.

♫

Vince dragged himself home about an hour before the official closing time of the Cobalt. He stuck around long enough to get loaded and watch Gem do her job for several hours. He left early enough that he wouldn't run into her outside the buffer of the club. She looked just like she had before she had moved out.

If he wasn't so aware that she meant every word in her song he would be quite convinced that it was merely a story of people she had heard about, or a couple she knew. It was like she had herself so together and had already moved on while he was busy falling to pieces, watching everything he had come to care for be taken away from him one by one.

He didn't sleep anymore. He drank as much, if not more, than he had before Gem had moved in. This meant he was always hung over and snapped the head off anyone who got in his way. It was worse because everything _was_ his fault this time.

He had said stupid things because he was an idiot.

He had said stupid things because he was a coward. He had let Dominic bull his way back into his life because of the same flaw.

He drank too much because he was both an idiot and a coward and lacked self control.

He also lacked a desire to deal with the problems in his life. He didn't know how and didn't know if he wanted to if the end result was still going to see him living his life all alone, no Gem or Mia to make all his struggles and hard work worth while. So he buried his head under a mountain of drunken indifference to ignore his problems, hoping if he ignored them long enough that they'd just go away.

Why bust his ass day in day out in the garage if Mia wasn't depending on him to keep her in a house? Dom ran things better anyway, he told himself. But in his heart he knew it wasn't true. Dom got caught up in the details as they pertained to himself and forgot about the fact that everyone depended on making money and the customers depended on getting their cars back by the time they were promised and fixed correctly.

Dom also tended to think he and by proxy his shop, were too good to do certain things. Basic maintenance was too far below him. Dom tended to think owning a performance garage was all about upgrading turbos and installing nitrous. He tended to forget that people who couldn't upgrade their own turbo and install their own nitrous likely couldn't change their own oil either. They wanted to take their highly tuned car to the same shop they trusted for everything, big and small. They did not want to trust Jiffy Lube to put the right oil into their 'baby'.

Laying on his back in the dark, staring up at his ceiling, he didn't feel any closer to a solution to any of his problems.

Least of all what he was going to do about Gem's band. He couldn't stand to be so close to her on stage but so distant from her in life. She had let him into her inner circle, the place where she didn't keep the guard up twenty four seven and he found himself unable to go back to the place where she was a casual acquaintance he happened to hang out with one night a week and drink in the bar she worked at. He couldn't make it work. He knew because he had tried.

He sighed as he heard Leon toss in the room across the hall. Maybe the girls were onto something with the whole moving out thing. He sure hadn't forgiven Dom or Letty for what they had done, for what they had put him through. The three of them barely spoke and it was straining Leon's relationship with them all.

Poor Leon, always wanting to please everyone.

Poor Vince, always saying he didn't want to please _anyone_.

Both of them now caught between a rock and a hard place. Maybe they should get a place of their own too, just like Gem and Mia. Except that unlike Mia, Leon would never find the balls to move out of Dominic's world. It would rock too many boats. In the end, did it really matter? He was hardly ever home anyway. It wasn't like Letty could cook. Since neither could he, Leon or Dominic it wasn't like he ever ate a meal at home anymore.

If Mia hadn't taken pity on him and secretly started feeding him lunch when he showed up at her café who knew when he would ever eat anything but fast food.

If his life had been uninspired before the heists had gone wrong at least it had been simple.

He rolled over with a deep sigh. It was time to try and get some sleep.

♫

Gem finally put her pen to the pristine paper some time after she had drifted off into her own world.

_Wanted: Experienced guitarist for rock band. Original songs and cover tunes. Must have ability to read and write music and ability to memorize music quickly. Band consists of lead singer/bass guitarist, pianist and drummer currently. Play on stage every Thursday night at the Cobalt Café's open mic night. Open to someone with suggestions how to get band more exposure, hopefully leading to record deal. Need someone ASAP. _

She added her phone number at home and at Toretto's café before tossing her pen down on top of the ad. That was it. She knew it had to be done and she did it. That didn't mean it didn't hurt. She knew she couldn't move on as long as he was still a part of her music. If he was a part of her music, he was still fundamentally a part of her. Yet as much as she claimed to move on was what she wanted she was still reluctant to sever all the ties. If it wasn't for the fact it was so late at night, she knew she would force herself to put it in an envelope and mail it to the classifieds right now so she wouldn't chicken out. Instead, she resolved to drop it off to several major papers early in the morning.

She rose and crossed to her bed. First thing in the morning was going to come very early.

♫

Mia got up with a yawn early the next morning. The sky was just starting to go from black through shades of red, orange and yellow and as she walked by the window the rich colors glowed warmly on her silk dressing gown. She wandered into the kitchen, covering a yawn with her hand as she went. Because it was so early she was very surprised to find Gem already gone for the day.

She sighed. How long could it go on? Gem avoided her every chance she got. She didn't come home for meals. She didn't linger when they traded shifts at the café. Mia tried not to take it personal. Gem avoided everyone. She didn't call Tamica or Elliott anymore. Didn't talk to her boss or co-workers. She was slowly turning in on herself. About the only person who still had her full attention was the cat. And that was like as not only because the cat didn't talk back. Or offer advice on how to deal with the messed up situation in her life.

Mia shrugged as she poured her first cup of coffee out of the pot. It would either work itself out or it wouldn't. She finished with her breakfast and got dressed. It was time to head to school for the morning before she went to relieve Gem at lunch and got treated to another of their three word conversations.

♫

Gem used the time she had between when she had fled the house-and she didn't kid herself, she knew she was running away from the conversation Mia was going to insist they had someday-and arriving at work to hit a fast food joint for breakfast, drop off her ad and go for a drive. As she ate her paper bag breakfast she spared a chagrined look at her own middle. As was always her first instinct when she was hurting, she had turned to food. It showed. The ten pounds or so she had lost while living with Mia and having all her meals home cooked for her had been found. They had been hiding at McDonald's and Burger King, Gem thought with a giggle.

But it was serious, no matter how light hearted she could make it seem. She couldn't eat away her pain. Besides being bad for her health and appearance it wasn't even working. Food could not offer the emotional support she needed. It was just a band-aid solution and a temporary one at that. If it wasn't temporary soon the only thing she would own that would fit her would be her gym pants. That wouldn't go over very well on stage night at all.

She turned up the stereo before she shifted into fourth. She was on her way back to the neighbourhood so she could open the café on time.

_There's only one thing for it Gem my girl_, she thought. _You're just going to have to try harder to turn to your friends instead of food._

On that thought she pulled up to the café and parked the car before going inside and opening up the front. She wouldn't have much to do until around eleven, when the lunch crowd started to show up. She had fallen into a routine. It was a routine of boredom for the most part but it was familiar to her now. She opened, sat down at the counter and attempted to write a song.

Mostly she ended up killing trees. Lots of trees. She often though that perhaps she should invest in a laptop computer so she could just erase whatever she wrote that she ended up not liking. Tossing out the page every time she wrote something she wanted to change meant she had a lot of wasted paper at the end of the day. She was rarely happy with anything she wrote. That hadn't changed. She was her own worst critic, always had been. She was even more hypercritical of herself now. She second guessed everything she thought or wrote. Ever since she found out how badly she misjudged Vince she had lost her confidence to decide if she was seeing other things in a clear light.

She knew why but she didn't really like the conclusion she had reached. It had been her decision to move out of the house, to leave Vince and everything that had become familiar to her. She had thought this act would make her feel better, would get her back on track. It had done nothing of the sort. She still felt bad all the time. It was like walking around with a dark cloud over her head. But maybe, and she was just now starting to see this, she had to be the one to change how she felt. It might have to be an active pursuit on her part. Sitting around waiting for things to change for her wasn't working.

She was sitting at the counter on her side of the structure, with her chin palmed in her hand, staring into space when a stranger walked in. There was something nagging her, there was something familiar about him, but she couldn't place just what. He took a seat, almost right in front of her.

She found herself looking into a pair of the greenest eyes she had ever seen. _There otta be a law against having eyes _that_ decided on what color they want to be,_ she mused as she glanced at his face again and looked away before he could catch her staring. He wasn't bad looking on the whole. He was made with wiry resilience rather than brute strength. His arms and chest were sinewed with lean muscle but he carried no bulk. She glanced over at him again, covertly under her lashes. He was wearing a jersey tank top and jeans. His biceps sported tattoos. He reminded her of Vince in a bittersweet way. She hated to be reminded of Vince at all, but elements of his style were echoed in this man's mussed hair and inked biceps.

_Sooner or later I'm going to have to ask him what he wants. _"Help you?"

♫

"Yeah, sure." _But not the way you think_, Leon thought with a grimace he tried to hide. How did you try to convince a girl you didn't even know that your best friend, who was a jackass, wasn't such a jackass at all? He didn't think he was that good a salesman. Vince was a horse's ass. Well, at least he was about ninety percent of the time. Of course, this Gem had lived with him for a few months so she likely knew that. But how could he sell it to her that this thing Vince had done hadn't been because he was an asshole? That this act had been, stupidly or not, borne out of a thought which had occurred during a stitch of time when Vince wasn't being an idiot.

He had asked himself several times why he even cared if they weren't together anymore. Vince and some chick broke up all the time and he'd never cared before. This time it was different though, and Leon knew it. It was just killing him to see V so unhappy. Vince was never what anyone would deem peppy. Hell, he wasn't even civil three quarters of the time. Especially not first thing in the morning, before he had his coffee. But he wasn't one to be depressed either. Use to be he would just _exist_ when he wasn't completely impressed with a situation.

Yeah, they all did their share of drinking and partying and sometimes harder stuff too. But not like Vince was now. It was like he had abandoned all hope for the future somewhere along this road he was on now. And it was slowly tearing everyone and everything Leon had left apart. The only solution he could see was if the little blonde chick could possibly see her way into forgiving Vince, or at least hearing him out. Maybe then everyone could move on with life. Instead of stagnating the way they were in a fog of alcohol, drugs, and bad attitude.

Things at the garage sure couldn't get much worse. Letty and Dom had fought again and weren't really speaking. Since it was Letty who got most of the vital work done while Dom lost himself in his fantasies for how great things could be, if they just got this one part or just won this next race, now that Letty wasn't helping, not much was getting done.

Corey and Bill dealt only with the customers they had been dealing with before they had returned and Dom had taken over the day to day running of the garage again. They refused to interact with, as Leon had heard them say when they didn't know he was listening, three interlopers who had come along when they weren't needed or wanted and ruined everything. Dom didn't want them to be there any more than they wanted to be there but he couldn't get rid of them. He thought they stuck around because they needed the job. Leon knew that wasn't the case. They stuck around because they saw the business as it now was as Vince's and they were simply marking time until he came back to claim it again.

Leon happened to glance up and realized that Vince's girl was staring at him through narrowed eyes. A quick glance at his watch showed he'd been sitting at the counter staring at the scarred top for the better part of ten minutes. He gave her a rueful grin. "Sorry 'bout that," he drawled.

"No problem. I'm stuck here until Mia relieves me at twelve whether you order or not."

With this statement Leon figured she had remembered him. A closer look revealed this was not the case. She was looking out over the street, presumably giving him time to finish with the little paper menu and decide what kind of sandwich he wanted. With a shrug he decided that as long as he was going to do something as stupid as stick his nose where it didn't belong he might as well get a last meal out of it too. "I'll have ham and Swiss on white."

Gem returned her lackadaisical eyes to him when his statement broke the silence. "Mustard or mayo?"

"Yeah, both."

Leon watched as she lazily took two pieces of white bread out of the bag and buttered them lightly before spreading the mayo onto one piece and mustard onto the other. Her position at the café clearly didn't interest her. It couldn't be more clear she was bored out of her mind to be making sandwiches at the dinky little lunch counter. So how was it that Mia had never minded working the café and her best friend couldn't stand it? Were they a case of opposites attracting? "How long have you been working here for Mia?"

"A few weeks. Since she went back to school at the first of the month. You know Mia?"

"You could say that." Leon didn't continue until he had his sandwich safely in front of him free of spit and not dropped on the floor first. "I'm Leon, we use to live together. Before…" Leon trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"I see." Gem answered frostily. "So what are you doing here?"

Leon ran a hand through his hair agitatedly. "I was hoping we could talk a bit."

"I don't see where we have a lot to talk about. I don't know you."

"I know we don't know each other. I'd like a chance to change that. I'd like to talk to you about some things."

"Things like what?" Gem asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Things like you and Mia and the whole not having any contact with the rest of us thing."

"Why should I want to talk to you about any of that?"

Leon sighed. "I guess you shouldn't want to. But I wish you would anyway. There are a lot of things about us that you don't know."

Gem stared back unmoved. "I know enough. I know what I heard that night. I know what I was told about Dom is true. And I know that means I don't want anything to do with him."

"I'm not going to tell you that what you were told about Dom isn't totally correct because it likely is. He's likely even worse than you think about a lot of things. But Dom's not really what I want to talk to you about. It's Vince."

When Leon said 'it's Vince' in that tone of voice Gem's instincts kicked into overdrive. "What about Vince? Is he hurt? Sick?" She fought not to panic. They hadn't spoken in days. Had something happened to him? Was he alone in a hospital room someplace hurting? What if he was having flashbacks to hanging off the side of the truck again? "Well?"

"Not like you mean. But ever since you left and refused to speak to him it's been bad. He barely speaks to any of us."

Was that all? She almost sagged with relief. But if he wasn't dying than she was still angry and that was a fact. She offered Leon a one shouldered shrug. "Well, he should have thought before he spoke so much the night Dom showed up." Gem told herself not to be easily swayed. If Vince was hurting it was no less than he'd put her through. What was stopping him from coming to talk to her about it himself?

"Story of his life," Leon chuckled. "Never could keep those size twelves of his out of his damn mouth." He sobered up with his next thought. "But there are reasons behind what he said that you might not understand."

"I understand just fine. He thought that Dom would make a play for me and that I would fall for it so he decided to try and head it off by making Dom think I was just some easy waitress he picked up and therefore not even worth the effort because I just wasn't that important."

"I won't argue that he was trying to convince Dom he didn't really have much interest in you. But the reasons why aren't exactly the ones you think."

"Oh really?" Gem asked sarcastically. It had seemed pretty conclusive from what Vince and Mia had told her all along.

"Yeah, really." Leon looked up at Gem from his seated position. When he had broached this subject she had risen from her seat and began to pace. She paused to meet his eyes. "Look, I know you likely think you got the whole story from Vince and Mia but you probably didn't."

Gem looked taken aback. Her eyes got wide and her head tilted slightly to the side quizzically. "How do you figure?"

"Because when they told you all the stuff they told you they were still only thinking of how bad Dom hurt them by running off. They weren't being impartial."

"And you think you could be?"

"I think I could come closer. I've been on the run with Dom for the last year. I know what he's been going through."

"No more than he deserves," Gem said. Her tone said that her opinion was final. Her eyes told a different story. There was a slight softening there, and Leon saw it. He was making her think. From what Vince said about her, she wasn't someone who liked to think the worst of people, but would if they gave her cause.

"Not a day went by that Dom didn't question himself and the decision he made."

"But he never came back and never even tried to check up on his friends. On his sister."

"He felt that was a sacrifice he had to make. He said if he checked up on them, or called them nothing good could come of it."

"Other than him knowing they were ok and letting them know he was also fine so they didn't spend a year thinking he was dead in some quack hospital in Mexico."

"That was small potatoes to what Dom thought could happen. He had himself convinced they were bugging the house and shop phones, likely the phone here too. He figured he knew they'd be watching over Vince in the hospital real close. Both because he was a flight risk and because they'd figure that we'd come back for him. Dom figured that they had Brian and could use him as a hostile witness against us. If that happened they had an airtight case. Gone loco on the cops or not, none of us figured that Brian would lie if they put him on the stand."

"That's why you could get a prepaid cell phone just for the one call. That wouldn't be traceable. Then you could have called to find out about Brian, and Vince. Not to mention Mia and Jesse. They wouldn't have been able to trace a cell phone and it wouldn't matter if you could just throw it away."

"No, you're right. It wouldn't have been traceable. But if we'd called home and found out about Jesse than we might have decided to come back and Dom wouldn't have allowed that."

"Why the heck not? That's what you should have done in the first place! Mia had to make all the arrangements for Jesse on her own and that wasn't fair. You should have come back to help her out with it, and with caring for V."

"Not if the police were looking for us. Look," Leon said, trying to play to Gem's logical side. "If Dom found out about Jesse dying or found out how bad things were for Vince and Mia and told us, and we all decided to come back, then if they were watching V and Mia they'd have them for aiding and abetting too. What judge or jury would believe Dom's own sister didn't know where he was the whole time?"

"I guess it would be hard to find one," Gem admitted reluctantly.

"Yeah, it would. As it stood, Mia was safe. They didn't have her doing anything wrong. There was no proof to connect her to any of it. We made sure of that all along. If Dom and Vince had had their way, Letty never would have been involved either, but she wouldn't hear of it. They didn't have any dirt on Jesse for that day either. He didn't come along because he was still running from Tran. So if Jesse had lived he would have been free and clear too. But not if they had us. If they had Dom, Letty and I than we were all doing ten to life for armed robbery, assault, grand theft, conspiracy to commit a felony, and the list of charges they could throw at us really does go on as long as my arm. I looked them all up."

"It was stupid not to have a plan for what would happen under these sorts of circumstances in the first place. If Mia had known that if the worst happened you guys would all have to run without contact until the heat died down, than at least she would have known what to expect."

"That's where Dom has a shortfall. He didn't see the worst ever happening. We pulled like five jobs or six and everything always went according to plan. He got cocky and we all got complacent."

"None of this makes what you did smart or right."

"It was wrong. I have to live with that every day of my life. My best friend got killed over it. Jesse was my cousin, my mother's brother's kid. I'll never be able to face my family again and I have to live with that for the rest of my life too. But it's not fair of you to be quick to forgive Vince his role and continue to hold the balance of blame against Dominic."

"I think it's perfectly fair," Gem argued. Why didn't Leon see just how fair it was?

"How do you figure, dawg?" Leon wished he hadn't called her 'dawg' the minute it left his mouth, but he couldn't call it back. Old habits were hard to break. She didn't seem to take any notice.

"Dominic was whole and healthy and able to run. Vince was in a hospital bleeding to death depending on machines to keep him alive. Jesse was dying from five bullet wounds to his torso. Dom had both their blood on his hands, figuratively and literally. Yet none of his own blood was ever spilt. He had Vince do the most dangerous part of his scheme and he chose that scheme over searching for Jesse. From what I've heard about Dom, it's just the two most selfish things he's done in a lifetime of being selfish."

"No matter what Vince has been telling you, he wasn't exactly opposed to the whole thing." Leon hated to fling any dirt onto Vince's character. Especially considering he was only there talking to Gem to try and convince her to hear him out. But he wasn't going to allow Vince to paint himself like an innocent in the whole situation when he wasn't. He sure hadn't heard a lot of protesting out of Vince. Not when Dom proposed the idea, not while they were doing the heists and not on that last night either. He'd just gone with the plan, just like the other five times. "He supported Dom at first, wanted to do it. Hell, it was Vince's idea. Dom really didn't know anyone like the kind of guys Vince had to know to get us hooked up for this sort of thing. They were guys that Vince knew. In the end Vince only put the idea in Dom's head but he never protested. Even that night he didn't have too much to say against it."

"The way I hear it Dom would have been counting on that because Vince hardly ever said no to his ideas and schemes."

"That's true enough, for the most part. But why is it ok that he went along with Dom's plan that night but it's not ok that we went along with Dom afterward?"

"It's not ok for him to have not done the right thing and backed out. But I'd say he got his punishment when he spent a month alone in the hospital wondering if he'd ever use his arm again and in so much pain it made someone like Vince wonder if he wanted to live. What was the punishment you guys got? A year's vacation on a beach in Mexico?"

"Living in fear of getting caught. Never knowing what was happening back home. Scared to death that V and Jesse didn't make it, that Mia was all alone."

"Oh boo hoo," Gem retorted sarcastically. He was looking for sympathy that his punishment was the issues that came with living life on the lamb when his friend had been dealing with callous indifference and barely humane treatment in the hospital because he had been taken for a criminal even without a trial, physiotherapy that he hated, scars that would brand what he had done to the world for the rest of his life. He definitely needed to go find another tree to bark up if he wanted sympathy. "That's a fate you chose for yourself by running away," Gem reminded as she forced herself to sit back down in her chair. Her pacing was making _her_ crazy.

"We thought we were sparing them too." Leon across at Gem pleadingly. Why couldn't she see? Had Mia and Vince really soured her on the rest of the team that thoroughly? "It's not as fun as you're allowing yourself to think. It wasn't all fun and sun on a beach in Mexico. We still had to hide, lay low. Letty was hurt pretty bad. There was a time we didn't think she was going to make it out of a Mexican hospital. There isn't much healthcare in the area of Mexico we ended up in."

Gem was finding it hard to remain so callous with Leon. She instinctively liked him, for one thing, and for another he was being genuine with her. He really did know he'd done wrong, but he really had seen some logic behind it all at the time. Now he knew better, but hindsight was always twenty twenty.

But there was still the fact that he was still with Dominic, and half taking Dom's side of things right now. She shot a speculative look his way. Did he really hope to convince her that Dom deserved a second chance? Could he be that obtuse? She didn't think she was being coy with her feelings about Dom. A person would have to be oblivious to think that she of all people could be brought around to Dom's way of thinking.

"Is there going to be a point to this whole conversation?" Since she couldn't come up with a proper response Gem decided to try and bring Leon to his point. Or at least to a point that didn't almost make her feel bad for Dominic. She thought of the night at the beach when Vince had told her about the times he wondered if he really even wanted to live. It firmed her resolve.

"The point is me trying to convince you to at least talk to Vince about the real reasons he said what he did."

"I know why he said what he did. He was scared that he might look like less of a big tough man if Dom knew he was with a girl because he wanted to be, not because she threw herself at him after some car race."

Leon sighed with a shake of his head. She'd seen straight to the bone on that one. He just wished he could make her see the rest of the story too. The part she had figured out was such a small one. "I'll give you that there was that part of it. But there's more."

"Yeah, there's also the fact that Dom use to try and steal his girlfriends to 'test their loyalty' and Vince was scared Dom would get up to his old tricks and I'd fall for them."

"There might be some truth to that too," Leon admitted. He knew he wasn't helping himself but he couldn't bring himself to lie. He had a feeling she'd just see through it anyway. "But there was also the part where Vince figured that if he could just make Dom think there wasn't anything too serious between the two of you Dom would leave you alone because he wouldn't think it was worth his effort to try and come between you. Dom's attention can be very intense and Vince just wanted to spare you dealing with it."

Gem rolled her eyes. "Do all men think with such idiotic logic, or is it just the stupid ones with more muscles than brains who function like this. Dominic and Vince are like two slow peas from the same pod. Dom for being stupid enough to think like he does and Vince for letting Dom's stupid thinking get to him. Really, what was Vince going to do, stop talking to me the way we talked whenever Dom was around. He wasn't exactly an inattentive boyfriend."

Leon shrugged before pausing to stuff half of his sandwich in his mouth. He finished chewing and swallowed before continuing. "It might occur to you, if you stopped to think about it, how Vince came to think you would fall for Dom's shit. How hard it has to have been on him to watch girl after girl he's been with fall over themselves for Dom, even though they're with him and Dom's with Letty. I can speak from first hand experience because it's not only Vince Dom use to pull that shit with. Me'n Jesse had to deal too. I can't say I ever would have taken V's way out but who's to say I wouldn't either. I've never had a woman in my life I cared enough about to try and defend her against Dom. Mostly I'd just tell him more power to him if he wanted them and so would Vince. I think that's the point you're missing here. Misguided or not, Vince's heart was in the right place and he must have really cared about you if he put his neck out and took a chance on you finding out what he'd said just to potentially protect you from a hassle."

"All the whole scenario tells me is that Vince needed to stop dating race skanks ages ago and Dominic should have been altered at six months of age like every other alley cat that shouldn't be allowed to reproduce."

Leon shuddered at that thought. "That's cold."

"Reality's a cold place," Gem answered with a shrug. The last few weeks had left her cold in her lonely world. People could handle reality her way or leave her alone.

"You don't have a heart at all? Can't see where in this situation you might not be able to make everything cut and dried?"

"I have a heart. I'm just not going to roll over and take being crapped on because big bad Dom decided to roll into town and Vince decided that meant he had to go back to dancing attendance on him and allowing him to run his whole life."

"Vince hasn't been whatever you just said on Dom since we got back. Vince hardly speaks to any of us. He's never home. The last time Dom said anything to him Vince snapped his head off. The night you took off they had a stupidly huge fight on the lawn and Vince broke three of Dom's ribs."

"Well, you could have fooled me. He certainly picked Dom to impress, not me."

"I'm never going to convince you to see the other side of this whole situation am I?"

Gem shrugged. She didn't think there was another side to see. There was only what happened. And what happened wasn't something she could just overlook, wasn't something she could just forget, and wasn't something she was prepared to forgive based on the explanation she had received.

"Well, when you never get a chance to talk to Vince and work out what happened for real Dawg, don't say I didn't warn you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gem asked. Her eyes narrowed to suspicious slits and her tense posture gave away her anger.

It was Leon's turn to shrug.

"Don't you even dare imply that I'm the one who did something wrong here! My only crime was coming home from a long day of work to have the rug pulled out from under me by Dominic waltzing back into Mia and Vince's life and then as if that wasn't enough to hear my boyfriend, whom I happened to care a great deal about by the way, belittle something that I was living for. How are you going to put any of this on me?"

"I'm not putting anything on you," Leon said, his voice slightly raised in frustration. He could see what Vince meant about wanting to see Gem go head to head with Dom. Her cool logic was formidable. She had managed to argue the shit out of him, all without seeming to get really mad or raise her voice. "I'm saying that if, someday, you ever want to know exactly what Vince was thinking or going through you're never going to get to find out if he drinks himself to death in the mean time."

So now Vince becoming an alcoholic was her fault too? _Oh no pal, you're not pinning that one on me. The blame for that one rests on the shoulders you see in the mirror, along with Dom and Letty_, Gem thought. "Listen, when I met Vince if he wasn't an alcoholic he was well on his way. Getting involved with Indigo Sound seemed to give him something else to do with his time and he cut way back on his drinking. But he was broken when I found him. By some people who were supposed to be his best friends. I wasn't looking to put him back together, just trying to get him to stop driving drunk before he killed somebody. Where our relationship went from there was serendipity. If Vince is being a bad tempered, surly drunk then he's just back how I found him and I sure as hell didn't make him that way."

With a sigh, Leon surrendered. He wasn't going to change her mind. He turned to leave and seemed to find something else to say a few steps away. "If you could come by the garage some day and try to reassure Cory and Bill that they aren't going to loose their jobs I'd appreciate it. Me'n Letty know we couldn't run the place without them, not without Jesse, and Vince never comes down to the shop no more. They hate Dom and Dom's resentful of them. The damn shop is like a war zone and it's stressing out everyone."

"I'll try to get down to talk to them," Gem conceded. She liked Cory and Bill and it wasn't fair to leave them upset and bewildered over something they had no control over.

"Thanks," Leon answered, begrudgingly. "They really don't like Dom, and they don't trust me'n Lett."

"I can't really blame them, so I hope you're not here looking for sympathy."

She was a cold hearted woman, Leon thought. Whether she liked it or not, the whole situation wasn't easy on any of them either. Instead of fighting with her further he decided to just leave before things got any more out of hand. He crossed to the large awning covered front door and stepped down before walking around the corner of the building to where he'd hidden his Skyline.

Once Leon had gone, Gem sat down hard on her chair with a sigh. She felt bad for being so hard on Leon. He had simply followed along with Dominic instead of doing what was right. But perhaps in the heat of the moment what was right had been a little harder for him to see. He had likely had Dom yelling at him, had just found out Brian was a cop and had just seen Vince airlifted out of the middle of nowhere with life threatening injuries with Jesse, his little cousin still missing to god knew where.

"Leon, wait!" Gem called as she ran out around the counter and after his retreating form. He paused. "I'm sorry I'm being so hard on you. It's just that this has been really hard on me and Mia, ok? I mean, I'm not even from here and living with Vince and Mia was the first place that felt like home to me since I left San Francisco. Mia, Vince and I always figured that if Dom and Letty and you hadn't come back by a year after you left you weren't ever going to come back. So to find out we were wrong, and have Vince say all those things, and have Dom actually be every bit the jerk I'd built him up to be was a huge shock. And Vince's conduct was a huge letdown." Gem fought her need to babble due to her discomfort.

"I understand." And he really did. He had thought of little else the year he'd been on the run than getting home and finding out how everyone had faired. To get home and find out the answer was 'not good' had been a huge blow to him as well. "I miss the old Vince, the guy I knew before all the shit happened. And sometimes, when he talks about you, I see flashes of how he was back then. And then I have to watch as he remembers how things are now, and goes and gets another drink. I just think that if you two could get some closure on things at the very least it would be good for everyone."

"I just don't know, Leon. I don't think I work that way. It's a lot to ask of me, to open myself up to being hurt by Vince again."

"Maybe so, but I really don't think he wants to hurt you. He's just not very tactful."

"If we keep talking about what Vince is and isn't I'm just going to start another fight with you so maybe we better agree to disagree and drop it, ok?"

Leon held up his hands palms up to show his surrender. "Ok. If you come to talk to Cory and Bill I should see you then."

"Ok," Gem answered. "Leon?"

Her question paused him a few steps away. "Yeah?"

"I'm glad we talked," she admitted grudgingly.

"Me too, even if it doesn't feel like we accomplished much."

"You did make me think, even if you didn't change my mind."

With a nod Leon took up walking again and disappeared around the corner of the building. A moment later his car started with a well tuned roar and zipped off down the road. Gem returned to her seat behind the counter.

Her mind felt overfull, with words rushing over each other like water over a fall. She needed time to sort everything out. Her eyes came to rest on a small spot near the ceiling of the café and she zoned out, lost in her own thoughts. And that was how Mia found her some time later.

"Sorry I'm late! I got held up after class." Mia tossed her bag down in the office at the back of the café before walking back toward the front and entering the staff area behind Gem, who had yet to offer a reply. "Gem? You ok?"

Gem came out of her thoughts with a start. "Geese Mia, I didn't see you come in. Sorry, I was lost in my own little world."

"That's obvious. What were you thinking about?"

Gem sighed with a huff. "A conversation I had earlier with Leon. He just showed up here out of the blue."

Mia feigned nonchalance. "What did Leon want?"

"To see if he could talk me into talking to Vince. Apparently he's been drinking himself into a downward spiral since everything went down and Leon thinks that if we talked Vince might stop and move on with his life."

"Leon might have a point," Mia said delicately. She didn't approve of Gem running away from this problem and pretending it didn't exist.

"You agree with him?" Gem asked incredulously. "After everything Vince said and how you feel about Dom being back and Vince taking Dom's side you think I should give him another chance?"

"I didn't say that," Mia said placatingly. "I said that you should likely talk to him about what went down and try to sort it all out. Leon didn't tell you that you should get back together with Vince, he just said you should hear him out about what really motivated him to say what he said and act how he did."

"What if I don't want to hear it? What if I'd rather just get on with my life and leave it as it stands?"

More running away from the issue, Mia noted with a frown. She had had enough of it. "Then for God's sake _do it_ and move on. Don't just pay it lip service and stay mired in depression and not doing anything to move on with your life. I think you and Vince getting everything out would only help _both_ of you move on. If you don't think so than don't talk to him for crying out loud. But please do as you say you want to and _move on_!"

While Gem could honestly see where Mia was coming from, hearing it put so bluntly also hurt her still tender feelings. Instead of answering she stood up, scooped up her pens and notebook and headed for the door. "I have to go check on Cory and Bill. I told Leon I would."

"Gem, don't run off all mad at me because I was honest."

"I'm not mad," Gem said. Her tone was level and she turned to face Mia again as she said it. "I just want to get this visit to the garage over with. I don't really want to see Dom."

"Gem, I barely see you as it is. Please don't hold what I said against me. If you disappear any more than you already do it'll be like living with a stranger I never see. I'll only know you exist because food goes missing at night and your bed gets slept in." Gem's fake calm voice wasn't fooling her for a second.

Gem raked a hand through her hair. So Mia had noticed how much she avoided being home. "I'm sorry Mia. I really am. It's not that I don't want to see you. I've just wanted to be alone a lot lately."

"It's not healthy and it's obviously not helping you cope with the way you feel."

"I know. I'm going to try harder to get things back to normal. I really am. But first I have to go do this thing. So wish me good luck."

"What do you need good luck for?"

"So that neither Dominic or I end up dead if we see each other." Gem smiled ruefully. "I don't trust my ability to control my temper."

"In that case, good luck."

With a nod, Gem left the café and got in her car, driving down to DT feeling like she had ice water and not blood in her veins. Mia was mad at her for how she had been acting. There went her thoughts that she had been hiding it well. But that was just how she was. She had learned early to hide her hurt from the world.

In a lot of ways she was no better than Vince. Only she didn't drink. She hid from the world in different ways. She signalled her turn into the DT parking lot.

How was she going to cope with the situation if _he_ was there? Not Dominic, as she had led Mia to believe. She could handle Dom easily enough. She would just ignore him until he left her alone. No, Dom being there was a given, so if she had a big problem seeing him she wouldn't go. It was Vince she was worried about running into. It was hard enough to see him for a few minutes on Thursdays. She really didn't want to see him in the broad light of day.

She took solace from the knowledge that if Leon needed her to go reassure Cory and Bill things were going to be ok it was because Vince wasn't around to do it himself. And that was the only reason why she was willing to go within fifty feet of the place. On that thought she pulled into the rear parking area and got out of the car, pushing her sunglasses farther up her nose and freeing her hair from behind her ears. She wanted to be free to use it to hide from Dom, Letty and Leon behind if the need arose.

She pushed into the shop and was assaulted at the door by smells that returned her to happier times in her mind. Gear oil, engine oil, axle grease, exhaust, and fuel all mingled together to form one cohesive scent. The trouble was it smelled like Vince did before he showered every day after work and reminded her of hanging out at the garage when it was just her and her boys. Now the place was filled with strangers. She almost turned right back the way she'd come and left. Just as she thought it Cory spotted her. With a whoop he dropped the filter wrench he'd been using and rushed her.

"Gem!"

She winced at his roar. Just what she wanted, attention drawn to her presence. "Hey Cory." She was being swung around in the air before she could continue to speak. Once her feet were again on terra firma she looked up at him. "How are you?"

Cory made a face. "I've been better. Where's Vince?" He cut straight to the heart of the matter.

"At this point your guess is as good as mine." Gem sighed. "I don't know what's going on with him Cory and that's the truth." Gem looked around. "Where's Bill?"

"He ran to Harry's to pick some stuff up. He should be back soon."

"Ok, good." Gem led Cory over to a quiet corner. She was aware of the stares she was getting from Dom and the glares she was getting from Letty. Why the Latin woman hated her so much she had never been able to determine. They had never met and had never spoken two words to each other. So how had Letty decided to hate her? What had she based her decision on? At least Gem had intimate knowledge of Letty's actions to base her dislike of the dark girl on.

"What brings you down to our little corner of hell?" Cory asked. He sneered when he said it.

It saddened Gem greatly to see Cory losing some of what made him, well, Cory. His good natured exuberance was a large part of him and he didn't seem himself when he lost it and turned instead to sarcasm. "I know things haven't been exactly what you're use to around here lately and I thought I'd check in on things."

"Not what we're use to?" Cory asked in an incredulous growl more than vaguely reminiscent of his absent idol. "How about all fucked up with no sign of normal in sight? Vince never comes around anymore. That Dom dude thinks he runs the place and that Letty chick just goes around snapping at everyone and thinking she runs the place. The only one I can stand is Leon and that's only because he knows he doesn't run the place and because the odd time Vince shows up he's the only one he'll talk to."

Gem floundered for what she was supposed to say to the troubled youth. She couldn't make the situation better for herself. How could she make it better for Cory? "Vince is going through some issues of his own right now Cory. How much do you know about the summer Vince's friends disappeared?"

"Just that they were into some really bad stuff and that one of V's best friends died over it."

The bell over the door tinkled just as Gem prepared to speak. She looked up to see Bill re-entering the shop. She motioned him over to join them. As he walked over his face slowly broke into a smile. "Gem! It's been too long."

"Good to see you Bill," she answered with a smile.

"How've you been Gem? You don't look so good."

"Gee, thanks," Gem answered with a wry smile. She knew he was right, she just didn't like having it pointed out so bluntly. She decided to answer the same way. "I've been a wreck. A literal mess. I guess from what Cory's been saying things have been similar around here."

"It's been a bit rough to adjust to the way Dominic wants to run the place," Bill admitted diplomatically.

"He doesn't fucken run the place at all. He shows up and pretends like he's too good to do most of the work," Cory interjected.

Gem couldn't even find it in her to be mad at him for his language or his bad attitude. He reminded her a little too much of Vince in a similar mood. Truly the protégé to the teacher. "It's always been that way, according to Leon." Gem took a moment to gather her thoughts. "I don't know how to say this so I'm just going to spit it out, ok?" She met both their eyes in turn and got nothing but their undivided attention in return. "Vince and I aren't together anymore. The night Dominic showed up Vince said some things I wasn't supposed to hear but I did. We split up over it and I haven't seen him since Mia and I moved out of the house back then."

"You what!"

"Excuse me!"

Gem was bombarded by disbelief from both sides. "My relationship with Vince isn't what I came down here to talk to you guys about. I just thought you should know so you understand a bit why Vince is taking the whole Dominic situation so poorly. And so you don't say anything that might set him off. You know how he can be."

"I use to. I don't have a god damn clue how he is lately."

"Cory, I know you're upset and likely worried what's going to happen to the shop now that Vince isn't running it anymore. But this is hard on everyone. Not just you and Bill."

Cory sighed. "I know it's harder on you and C than me and Bill but it still sucks. Vince was supposed to take me to race wars this year. That'll never happen now. He won't go racing downtown anymore either. And to top it all off he stuck us with the bald asshole to run the garage. He's just gonna fire me for sure and maybe Bill too."

"Hey, calm down," Bill said, patting Cory on the shoulder. "Coyote'll come around. He always has before."

"He's never had anything like this happen before. Besides, we didn't know it wasn't his garage. If it's really the asshole's than Vince has no say." Cory flopped back in his seat with a sigh and sat there, his face screwed up in a mix of a little boy trying not to cry, and a man trying not to flip out.

"Listen to me, ok?" Gem said softly as she put an arm around Cory's shoulders. He didn't shrug her off like she expected. He leaned into her instead and put his head down on her shoulder tiredly. Gem found it hard to remember Cory was only twenty, and a young twenty at that, because he truly did act more mature than his age most times. But he was really just a kid when it counted.

"You are both excellent mechanics. Bill for his general skills and you for your engine building. The two of you and Vince made this place into what it is. If you guys hadn't stepped up to the plate there would be no shop for Dominic to come back to because the bank would have foreclosed and taken it ages ago. No one is keeping you around as a handout. Over half the customers who are still coming here wouldn't be if they found out that you guys were gone and Vince wasn't working here anymore either. I have it from a good reliable source that your jobs are secure. If you want them. If you don't want to work for Dom than I guess the garage will just go under."

"You're joking right? I've seen the way he looks at us."

"I'm not going to try and convince you he likes the idea of needing to keep the two of you around because he doesn't. However, while he is an arrogant jackass, one thing he isn't is stupid. He knows that without the two of you he couldn't keep the garage open. Not without Vince and Jesse. He's just sour because he thought he'd be walking back into the exact same life he left and instead everything is different."

"I thought you said he wasn't stupid," Bill broke in. "If he wasn't stupid than he would have known there was no way time was going to freeze for a year when he left his sister and best friend without so much as a 'fair thee well'."

"I know that. But it's just how he thinks from what Vince and Leon tell me. Because of how full of himself he is he honestly thought that if he wasn't it in life couldn't really go on for Mia and Vince. He knew they'd continue to exist, but that they wouldn't really live until he got back. He's not stupid, he's just not very logical."

"If you say so," Cory rolled his eyes.

"Are you holding up ok yourself, Gem, with everything?" Bill asked in concern.

"Not really, no. But I'm going to make an effort. I want you guys to make one too. Try to make this work. Not just for yourselves but for Vince too. Someday, if he makes it back around, it would be nice for this place to still have some semblance of the place the three of you built together, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah," Cory admitted reluctantly and Bill nodded.

"Ok, good. That's what I came down here to talk to you guys about. You ever want to come see Mia or I for lunch you can. One of us is always at the café, ok?"

"We'll make an effort to visit more often," Bill assured.

"Ok, I should get going. I'll see you guys around." Gem started to leave the building. With an afterthought she turned back to Cory. "And if you ever want some company to go to races with you call me. Mia and I will be glad to go with you, if you don't mind hanging out with a couple of measly girls all night."

"You'd really do that for me?"

"Yeah, we're friends Cory. And since I finally have a car that wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb I wouldn't mind going as your cheering section."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Cory said. His face broke out into the first real smile Gem had seen from him since she arrived. Some of the old Cory was back.

"Do that. See you two later."

"Bye Gem," Bill called after her.

She escaped out into the sun with a wave. _That went better than expected_, she mused on a relieved sigh as she paused just outside the door. She hadn't run into Vince and the three people she couldn't stand hadn't felt the need to say anything to her. That went against everything she knew about Dom. He hadn't tried to stick his nose into her business at all.

She pushed her sunglasses on and up to the bridge of her nose before she started back toward her car. _Home free._

"What are you doin' here?"

When the irate, slurred question was growled behind her she couldn't help the little scream of shock that escaped her as she spun around, hand to her throat. "Jesus Vince, you scared the hell out of me."

"Yeah, whatever. What are you doing here?"

"Visiting with Cory and Bill. They're worried about the shop and about you." She sniffed the air. "With good reason I guess. Is that liquor I smell off you?" She didn't need to wait for him to answer. The look in his eyes was answer enough. "My god Vince, it's only two pm. You're drunk already?"

"What's it to you?"

"What it is to me is that you just drove here, it's the middle of the afternoon, and you're drunk. Do you think I stopped caring about you in an instant because you hurt me? I don't want to end up getting the call that they scraped your car off a median V."

"What difference would it make? You're not too bent outta shape about what happened. You'n Mia in your perfect new place and your jobs that never changed. What'd you care what I do with my life? No one needs me around anymore. They don't need me here, they don't need me at home. Who cares if I get drunk in the afternoon?"

"God Vince, where did you get the idea no one needs you?" Gem took a risk and took a step closer to him. "Cory and Bill miss you like crazy from the garage. Dom is busy trying to run the place into the ground and he's making them miserable. They miss _you_ V. They want _you_. None of us want to see you do this to yourself."

"Then get the fuck in your car and leave. Then you won't have to lower yourself to seeing me any more."

The state Vince was in was almost too much for her to take. But if she did as he said and just left, she was just making him right about her. "I know there won't be any reasoning with you when you're like this Vince, or I'd stay and try to talk some sense into your thick head. I know I've been avoiding you. It's not because I don't want to lower myself to being around you. It's because I didn't know if I could see you again and not relive every second of hearing you say what you said about me to Dom. And I can't. But I think we need to talk about it. I thought it would be best if we each just tried to move on but it's just not possible Vince. We need to talk."

"We have nothing to talk about." Vince pulled the flask she had forgotten he even owned out of his jeans pocket and took a gulp.

"If that's true than why are you drunk in the middle of the day instead of at work?"

"I didn't say everything was ok, I said _we_ have nothing to talk about."

"I don't agree with you."

He shrugged. "Don't recall asking you to."

"I want us to sit down and have a talk about things Vince. When you're sober."

"You'll be waiting a while for that day to come," he said. "Don't hold your breath."

"Ok, fine. Have it your way Vince. You always do anyway. But don't even _think_ you're going to come around my job drunk off your trees and make trouble. That's my job, my livelihood and I won't have you messing it up for me because you feel the need to be a mean tempered, surly drunk to get back at me," she snapped at him in anger.

"They knew me before you did and I was going there longer. I'll go if I want to and there's not a damn thing you can do about it miss priss," he roared back.

"Oh you think?" Gem asked with a snarl of her own, starting to get really irate at him despite her resolution not to. She knew he didn't know what he was saying in his drunken stupor. That didn't seem to matter. She took a step closer and hoped she was taking a mean and intimidating posture. "There's lots I can do about it."

"Yeah, like what? What's a timid little thing like you gonna do if a mean, surly drunk like me wants to sit in a bar and get even drunker and surlier?" He was intentionally cruel, hoping to make her really mad and drive her farther away at the same time.

"I'll just have Barry kick you out. And if you come back I'll have him kick you out again. Don't think he won't do it either. When it comes down to it he'd rather have me work there than let you drink there and you damn well know it too. I'm the only waitress he's ever had that was willing to wait on you without a threat and he'd be just as happy if you never came around again."

"But then when Thursday night rolls around again and you're looking for someone to play guitar for you since god knows you can't do it yourself and you got me banned from the place, what are you going to do then? Then you wouldn't be just as happy if I never came around again."

His words took all the fight out of her. She looked at him with weary eyes. Enough was enough. There was no way to fix this. Holding out for him to come around was wasting time. He wasn't ever going to. Continuing to work with him on Thursdays was just prolonging the heartache. "To be honest Vince I'd rather do my songs without anyone playing guitar than deal with having you in my life even in that capacity if this is how you're going to talk to me, treat me. You were the best thing that ever happened to me. Musically and personally. I thought you had changed your life around because of us and because of Indigo. But now you're just out to take your hurts out on the world and everyone in it again. I won't hang around and let you do it to me. I'd rather be able to hold you in my heart the way I remember you the night before Dominic came back than have to know you like this." She stood on her tip toes to kiss his stubbly cheek. There were tears in her eyes fighting to run down her cheeks but she wouldn't let them. "Take care of you, Vince. Thanks for everything, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I'll never forget you or anything you did for me. There's a great man inside you Vincent Castellani. I just hope you don't manage to kill him before you remember it again. If you ever find yourself sober and agreeable some day and you want to talk about things after all, you give me a call. Until that day, I really would rather remember my V than what you are today and have been since Dom came back to town." On that note she left his side before she could break down into the thousand pieces that were fighting to get free.

♫

_Tell me so I can hold you in my soul, and if I go, I'll know. _

The one person in his life he had ever, at any point, been sure was seeing the real him and liking him despite of it and without any desire to use him for something writing a song basically begging him to tell her he loved her outright because she knew the day they weren't together anymore was coming and wanted the memories to hold.

And he'd never even given her that. Had never told her out loud and had thought that showing her with actions was enough. Until the night he'd done the unforgivable and driven her out of his life forever.

He had watched her car drive off before it really hit him. She had put a final period to their time together. He had managed to make Gemmalynn Davis, the eternal optimist, give up hope for him. He was now swilling back what was left of the whiskey in his flask while leaned against the brick wall of DT sitting in the dirt.

Outside.

Alone.

Right back where she'd found him. On the outside looking in.

She'd finally done it. He was kicked out of the band. Funny, he'd always figured he'd quit before she ever told him he wasn't welcome anymore. He couldn't get the look in her eyes out of his mind. He'd done such a good job convincing himself she didn't miss him and just plain didn't care what happened to him anymore that he hadn't even wanted to see the truth when it was right in front of his face. Someplace in the deepest part of his heart, the part he wouldn't even admit to the existence of, he had figured and held onto the fact that _Gem_ would never give up on him. She would always be there waiting for his apology when he came around, willing to accept it. But now she was done with him for good.

_I'd rather be able to hold you in my heart the way I remember you than have to know you like this._

Her words wouldn't leave his head. He'd made her so sad she hadn't even finished fighting with him. He had known she wanted to. But she held back, kissed him good-bye and left before they could really get into it. Could really hurt each other. Well, worse than they already had.

And again, it was all his fault. Just another fuck up to add to the insurmountable pile. He wanted to go home. He stood and started to dig in his pocket for his keys. With a muttered curse he pushed into the shadowed interior of the garage instead. There was one thing he could give her. Today wouldn't be the day some cop called her up and told her that they just found his car driven over a cliff or smashed into bits on a highway somewhere and pulled him out of it dead.

He ignored Dom and Letty entirely and walked over to Bill instead. He wasn't all that steady on his feet. "Bill," he said and hiccupped loudly.

"Jesus Christ C, are you drunk?" Bill asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Very," he answered. "I gotta go lay down and I need a drive home."

"Ok, let's go then." Bill was floored by Vince's request but he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. He didn't want to be the one to tell the girls that anything bad had happened to their 'V'. He was just glad for the chance to keep him off the road in his condition at least this once.

He drove Vince home and promised to drop the Maxima off later with Cory before watching Vince make his unsteady way into the house.

How on earth was this going to work out?

♫

Gem left DT as quick as she could without making it obvious she was running away. Her first instinct was to run home or to some other place she knew there would be no one to see her so undone. Instead she turned the car toward Toretto's. She couldn't fix herself and damned if she was going to end up like Vince. She would turn to her friends instead.

She parked the car out front and was glad to find Mia alone with an open school book in front of her. She looked up when she saw Gem making her way into the café. "Gem, what's wrong with you?"

"He was there," Gem said as she sat down on one of the bar stools at the counter.

"Who, Dom?"

"No, I knew Dom would be there. I ran into Vince on the way out."

"You knew you were going to have to talk to him someday."

"Yeah, but he didn't want to talk. He was drunk when he showed up and he accused me of not caring about him and of being over him already. He was pretty awful and I told him he couldn't come to the Cobalt if he was going to be ignorant because I wouldn't have him making trouble for me at my job."

"Sounds reasonable."

"Then he told me that I had to let him come to the Cobalt because I couldn't play in open mic without him." Gem choked back a sob. "So I told him if I was going to hear more of the same and be treated so badly I'd rather he wasn't in the band anymore, would rather make do without him." She turned to Mia pleadingly with tears in her eyes. "What the hell did I do?"

"Some thing you should have done last week Gemmalynn. If you want to move on with your life you can't keep him half way in, half way out of it. Always with his foot in the door so you can't close it all the way."

"But now I won't even see him then and it'll have to be real Mia! Don't you see? Now it has to be real. We're not together anymore."

As her friend totally lost it Mia hugged her tight. She had pretty much known it was coming but it didn't make it any easier. "It's going to be ok though. You'll find someone else to be in the band. You'll meet other guys. I guess you were right from the beginning. A lot of this is my fault. I pushed you two together and you always told me that you didn't want to get involved."

"I lied. I wanted him from the minute he tried to scare me off in the Cobalt. I wanted him before I even knew you. I was always drawn to him, right from day one. And now it's all over. And it's all Dominic's fault," she wailed.

"No it's not," Mia corrected. "Dom did something stupid and wrong. But his coming home was just the catalyst for this. Vince's inability to just speak his mind and deal with his issues is at fault for your fight with him and for what he said to Dom. Dom's previous history with cheating and taking the boys girls to do it with doesn't help but Vince is the only one responsible for what Vince says. And you are the only one responsible for how you handle your reactions to both things. Something like this was bound to happen if Vince didn't make some real changes to how he reacts to the world."

Mia stood up and took Gem with her. "Come on, we're going home."

"We don't close for another three hours."

"Doesn't matter. Today we close now. I'm taking you home, we're making supper and we're going to talk this out until we've done all the talking about it we need to for you to start to move on past it and not wallow in it forever."

They both drank too much with dinner. There were two and a half empty wine bottles on the table. Gem finished the last of her hot fudge sundae and licked the spoon gleaming again.

"You know what we need to do now?" Mia asked suddenly.

"What?" Gem asked, somewhat unsteadily.

"Burn everything you have of his. It'll be symbolic and give you closure. I did it after Brian and it really did help."

Gem thought for a moment. "Ok, I'll go get it all. Where are we going to do it?"

"Waste paper can on the fire escape?"

Gem nodded her acceptance and headed for her room. She picked up several small things that had been given to her by Vince and all the pictures she had with him in them. Finally she went and got his undershirt out of her drawer. It hadn't been washed since she had left the house and was the most poignant reminder she had of him. She piled all the other things on the top of the shirt and turned to leave the room. When she looked down at the pile of items in her arms a picture Vince trying to smear her nose with sun block as she fought valiantly not to let him, both of them laughing, stared back up at her. It was her favourite picture of him. He looked so happy, innocent and care free. Mia had snapped it at an unguarded moment because normally Vince wasn't one for having his picture taken.

Before she could change her mind she put the picture and the shirt away at the very back of her closet. She was a woman letting go. But she wasn't sure she wanted to let go all the way just yet. With a determined exhale she met Mia on the small fire escape and they burned the rest of her items. She cried. So did Mia. Gem knew symbolically they were both letting him go. Were both acknowledging that at this point, neither could afford to have him in their lives if they wanted to have lives to live.

It came as quite a shock when the doorbell rang at ten o'clock that night. Mia got up to answer it. They were just watching Pretty Woman on the movie channel before bed and a visitor was the last thing they expected. The visitor being Gem's brother Doug was even less expected.

"I hope I'm not intruding. I was just in town on business and thought I'd go say hello to Gem only to find out the two of you no longer live at your old house." It was clear from the look on Doug's face he didn't know if he should be angry or concerned about the fact Gem hadn't informed him of her move.

"Gem!" Mia turned around to face the living room. "You didn't tell your family we moved?"

Gem only shook her head no, biting her bottom lip to try and stop it from trembling.

"Why not?" Mia asked incredulously. How could Gem not tell her mom and dad she had a new address and a new phone number?

"I didn't want to tell them why," she answered quietly.

"Why?" Doug asked menacingly. He had a feeling it would involve something the Neanderthal she previously lived with had done.

"Because I knew you'd flip out and I don't need it right now."

Doug walked farther into the room. "What do I have to flip out about Gem?"

"Nothing I guess. You'll only be thrilled. Vince and I broke up. He was everything you said he was, you were right. You happy now?"

"No I'm not happy." Doug sat down beside his sister. "I want you to be happy and you're not. I'm not happy to see you so upset. Why did you break up with Vince?"

Slowly the whole story came out. It was her brother. Sure, he was overprotective and far too analytical for his own good but he was still her brother. He was totally on her side and didn't even know Vince. Didn't like him. He let her just spill it all and didn't interrupt once. Gem was aware of her surroundings enough to be thankful for it.

"So I told him that I never wanted to see him again so I wouldn't have to remember him the way he's acting now and Mia and I just had a bonfire of all his stuff we had in the house." Gem finished, her head pillowed on her older brother's shoulder.

"Wow, sounds like quite a night." Doug was unsure what else to say. He was trying to err on the side of caution about this topic. If he passed a judgement on any of it he thought she might just break down or blow up at him and he wanted neither.

"That's all you have to say."

"I have lot's more to say but I don't want to say any of it right now. None of it is very flattering toward Vince and I don't want you to get mad at me."

"Why would I get mad at you for talking down about Vince when I just spent the last," she glanced at the clock, "hour calling him down to the lowest?"

"I know you Gem. He wronged you so you're allowed. He wronged Mia so she's allowed. It didn't concern me so the second I pass judgement on him you're going to rip me a new one because I don't have the right."

Gem looked up at Doug in shock. He was right. But how did he know.

"I've known you as long as you've known yourself Gem. I even understand I guess. I wish I knew what to say to you little sis. Nick would be better for you right now but I guess you're stuck with me this time."

"You did enough just listening to me Doug. For once it feels like you really heard me and didn't try to change me or change how I feel or think. I don't wish you were Nick."

"I always knew that you and Nick were closer Gem. I won't say it doesn't bother me but I guess I always just told myself it came with the territory. You two are so alike and closer in age. I'm sorry that I wasn't the brother you needed me to be."

"Who says you weren't?" Gem offered. "I can have two different brothers. You don't have to be just like Nick for me to love you. Just like I don't have to be just like either of you guys for you to love me. I'm glad you took the high road and didn't call Vince down. It's enough to know that you want to."

"Oh," Doug cracked his neck. "Do I ever."

Gem managed a smile. It felt good to unburden herself to her family and friends for a change and not try to deal with everything on her own. "Man it's late."

"Yeah, I should go. I still have to find a hotel room."

"Why don't you just crash on the couch? Mia won't mind."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Doug retrieved his stuff from his car and they went to bed.

♫

When Gem woke up and wandered out of her room the next morning behind a gallivanting Allegro, who wouldn't sleep anywhere else but her bed it was to find Mia and Doug chatting amicably over coffee. Gem poured herself a cup before joining them at the table. "You didn't open this morning?" she asked Mia.

"Didn't feel like it. Thought we might take your brother and show him around some of the L.A. sights if you feel like it."

"Sounds fun. I'll get ready."

The weekend flew by and before she knew it she was preparing to spend all day working at the café for Mia because it was Monday. Oh, how she loathed Monday. It was especially hard because she and Mia had spent the weekend playing tourists with Doug and had actually had a really fun time. But now it was like the mini vacation was over and it was back to the work a day world. And back to all her memories of how different her life was.

She had been planning to revamp and finish a song she started back in high school for her performance this week. Now she didn't know how to rework it so that she didn't need anyone to play guitar. She really didn't think there was a remote chance the song wouldn't suck without a guitarist and so far the only response to her ad had been from people who sounded shady or from amateurs who honestly couldn't handle the situation of Indigo Sound and just didn't have the experience she was looking for.

The fact there was no money to be made didn't help either. She was looking for a pro player willing to work for the hope that one day they'd be discovered and make their money then. It was a bigger leap of faith than most people who matched her requirements seemed willing to make. It was obvious she wasn't going to be satisfied with anyone because she was looking for another Vince and there just wasn't one. His talent and attitude made him one of a kind. He _was_ her music and she still didn't know how she was going to separate the two. Thus, this week's song writing effort wasn't going well.

"Shit, when I told you to talk to Vince I didn't tell you to make him worse," Leon said as he sat down at the counter.

"Tact isn't exactly your middle name, is it?" Gem asked acerbically in answer to his question without looking up.

"He was worse this weekend than I've seen him since we got back. Only point of light in the whole thing was the fact that he had us chauffeur him around instead of driving himself.

Gem forced herself to shrug. "That's something at least."

"What went down between you two?"

"I never went looking for him to be honest. I went to talk to Cory like I told you I would and he showed up. He was already drunk in the middle of the afternoon and angry at the world. He took it out on me and made some threats so I kicked him out of the band."

"Sorry, come again. The band?"

"He had been playing guitar in the band I'm in. He made some threats about not playing for me anymore out of spite so I told him if that was how he felt about it I didn't want him in Indigo anymore anyway."

"So that's what set him off." Leon looked up at her earnestly. "Is there any chance you'd talk to Dom? See if you guys could reach an understanding? I think if you tried to get along with him it would help the whole situation. If Vince could see you two getting along maybe he'd try harder to too."

"There isn't a chance in hell I will ever try to get along with Dominic Toretto or understand what he did." Her tone was final.

"Wouldn't it be better if we could all get along?"

"Maybe but it's not going to happen. Listen, don't bother wasting your time if you're trying to change my mind. I won't have a selfish jerk like Dom in my life."

"But think about it. Everything could be better if we weren't like two families split down the middle."

"It's a nice dream, but dreaming doesn't do anyone any good. I'd rather face facts and move on."

Leon stood up. "Ok. I had to try. See you." He left with a half hearted wave over his shoulder.

Leon was cool and she liked him. But he was a bridge to a time and place she was going to have to burn. She didn't see how she could be his friend but still hate him, Dom and everything their leaving had caused and still represented. It wasn't even like Dom had ever admitted he had done wrong. Hell, he hadn't even seemed to think he'd done wrong.

♫

The rest of the week seemed to fly by. Gem knew it was because she had a song written. A song which assumed she would have a lead guitarist. And she knew she would not. So the week rushed past her so the moment of her humiliation could come all the swifter.

She spent the week listening to a lot of John Mayer, Fiona Apple, and Nora Jones trying to become calm. It didn't really work. And since there were a lot of songs centered around relationships on all the albums of those artists, she never had Vince far from her mind.

She never had Leon and his attempt to bring her around to seeing his side, and therefore Dom's side of things far from her mind either. Much to her chagrin she couldn't decide if she was being a fool not to do as he said and have it out with Dom, or if she would be a fool to do so.

She knew one thing for certain. Dom was so use to getting his way and so used to having everyone pander to him that he couldn't take her. She didn't see his way and wouldn't allow him to retain his delusions that his way was only what he deserved. It was likely better for all concerned that they never talked. Everything they had to talk about lay like an unsurpassable chasm between them. She couldn't see it Dom's way, and she had a feeling he wouldn't even try to see it her way. So what did they have to talk about?

Barry had given her the first half of the night off as a modified stress leave. She was hiding in the green room, waiting for her friends to show up. She hadn't even had the courage to break the news to them that she'd 'fired' Vince. She didn't know how they were going to take it. She'd done a pretty good job of pretending she was ok with him still being in the band and then she'd gone and told him he wasn't welcome anymore. She hadn't even consulted Elliott and Tamica first. She had just acted out of the moment and done what she felt she had to do.

Sitting on the burnt orange couch in the spiffy red dress Mia had made her wear, saying it would bring her cheer was where her friends found her when they rolled in at seven.

"What are you doing back here already?" Elliott asked as he tossed his messenger bag down on the chair.

"Yeah, you don't normally come back here until seven thirty. What's up?"

"We need to talk," Gem said as she looked up from her hands to meet both their gazes.

"Sounds like trouble," Elliott observed as he walked over to the couch and sat beside Gem. "What's the trouble Gem?"

"We're going to have a hard time playing tonight," Gem started. She was unsure how to continue.

"Why? Couldn't write anything?" Tamica guessed. "It's ok. You haven't been in the most creative mindset lately. We'll reprise something we haven't done since the beginning. It'll be ok. You'll write other songs. When you feel more up to it."

"Well, thanks for being so supportive Tamica, but I wrote a song. But in the interim I also had a fight with Vince and told him he wasn't welcome here anymore. So we have no one to play guitar. I brought mine, but even if I could play it this song doesn't work for acoustic, let alone for me playing it. It needs to have bass and lead. Without both it's not even half a song. And I'm so sorry I broke up the band without talking with you guys first."

"Gem," Tamica sat down on Gem's other side. "You didn't just break up the band girl. You broke up with your man and felt like you couldn't have him around. It's a little different. We won't play tonight. No biggie. There are other guitarists in the world you know."

"I do know that. I even placed an ad to find one. But I only got a few calls and half of them were creeps. The rest were high school kids who have level one or two at most. At worst some of them couldn't even read music and had to learn by ear. The few I heard were horrible. There isn't an adult guitarist in this city who wants to play one gig a week for free. At least, not one who isn't totally strange or too young to be in the Cobalt without their parents. There might be other guitarists but there isn't another Vince and everyone who I put up against him just falls very short. No one can hold a candle to him musically."

"Gem, we'll work it out. I might know some people I can ask. It's going to be ok and it isn't your fault," Elliott tried to reassure his friend. "Like Tam says, we just won't go on tonight. We'll have a whole week to work on the problem and if worse comes to worse you'll just have to try and write songs for acoustic and take lessons."

"We're too good to let this stop us. We're still three out of four here Gem. That's not so bad."

"You guys are too good for me, you know that?" Gem said as they all fell into a group hug. "Maybe it will be ok."

"Sure it will. I'll go tell Nalia not to call us tonight." Tamica stood up to leave the room.

"Can I have a moment to talk to Gem before you do that?" Vince asked from the door.

"Not a chance!" Elliott answered.

Gem looked at Vince. "It's ok Elliott. Just hold off a moment on talking to Nalia and I'll find you by the bar in a few. We'll tell her together."

"Ok. If you're sure you're ok with this."

"I'm fine." No she wasn't. But she also wasn't going to make a huge scene in the middle of her friends and her job. She wasn't terribly impressed that Vince had just disregarded her request to stay away from her job and find someplace else to get drunk. Had he figured her for joking? She would soon disabuse him of that notion. She was dead serious. He wasn't coming up in her job and embarrassing her. Not to mention airing their private business in public.

Elliott and Tamica left the room reluctantly, leaving Gem and Vince looking at each other nervously. Gem noted he had his guitar case in his hand. She finally met his eyes with a pointed glance at his left hand. She waited for him to explain himself.

"I'd like it if you let me play until you replace me. It's not fair to everyone else or to you for you guys to not get to play because we broke up. I can keep to myself long enough to play one song."

"It's not that I doubt it Vince. I just really don't want you in my life in any capacity if I'll never know when you could turn on me."

"I swear I'll play and I'll leave. I'm dead sober right now and if it's what you want I won't hang out and drink here anymore Gem." He ran a hand into his hair. The disarray of it appealed to her like it always did but she hardened her resolve. "Just let me do this thing for you. And for the other guys. I'm here already and I have my guitar."

Gem sighed. "I don't want to owe you any favours Vince." She cut to the heart of the matter. Her biggest worry about letting him back in, even just for half an hour. At her words his eyes took on a genuine hurt.

"I'm not offering so you'll owe me a favour. I'm offering because I know it's the right thing to do. So just let me do the right thing for once. Ok?"

"I'll have to go ask Elliott and Tamica what they think. I cut you without asking them and I shouldn't have. But now that they know why and agree with it I won't reverse the decision without their input."

He nodded his agreement and she left him alone in the room.

After a conversation with Elliott and Tamica they agreed to allow him to play with them. Mostly because they really wanted to play and knew it could take weeks to find someone skilled enough to take his place. The marched into the room together, Gem out front with one of her friends on either side.

"We've decided that if you really want to play tonight we'd like to have you," Gem said. "However, there are going to be some ground rules."

Vince looked upset about that, but he held his tongue, indicating for her to continue with a nod.

"If you're going to drink, you will do so elsewhere after we're done. You will not get drunk in this bar and take your bad moods out on Barbara or embarrass the rest of us in this place where we play and see the same patrons week after week."

"Agreed," he bit out.

"We have a professional relationship. This doesn't mean that I've forgotten anything that was said the last time we talked."

He nodded tensely again.

"If, because you've chosen to stay part of this band you hear some things I've written that you don't like or don't agree with you'll keep it to yourself. I write about my life. I can't help it if you don't like my opinions or how I see my life. I won't argue with you about any of it."

"Anything else?" He ground out.

"That about covers it," Tamica answered.

"Fine. Give me my music."

With a shrug Gem handed it over. She hadn't expected him to agree to all her points. She had been purposefully overly strict and harsh. She thought that her intent had been to drive him away for her own mental health. She wasn't sure if she was glad or upset it hadn't worked. She also knew she was in for it from Mia when she found out that she had allowed him back in.

She would have tried to add on another rule about not telling Mia that he was playing with them again, but she was pretty sure that Mia would show up to see them play like she always did. So there was no sense trying to keep it from her.

Nalia called their name and they took the stage. For once Gem didn't try to see who was in the audience on her way onto the small stage and was glad the footlights stopped her from being able to see anyone who wasn't sitting in the front row.

All the regular patrons of open mic night were clapping for one of their regular crowd favourites. They were oblivious to how close they had come to loosing Indigo Sound from their Thursday night listening experience.

Sitting at a table at the back were two people who had not that comfortable ignorance. Mia was sipping on a glass of white wine while Leon nursed a golden Corona at her side. "I can't believe I agreed to let you come with me," Mia said to Leon as she watched Gem plug in her bass.

"Well, thanks anyway. I can't believe that Vince wants to do this so much he actually came and said he was sorry to her so she'd let him."

"I think you just don't know Vince anymore. He comes around to realizing when he's wrong now. It just still takes him longer than most people and he hates to say he's sorry even more than most people too. All I can say is Gem better send him packing. She knows better than to let him back into her life with involvement in something as important to her as her music."

"I don't think she'll ever forgive him," Leon offered with a sigh. He had tried but he could see that his efforts were going to be in vain.

"I don't either. I don't know if I think she even should. Not if he's going to go right back to hiding behind Dom as an excuse not to live his own life."

"He hasn't. He barely says two words to Dom in the run of a week. It's painful to watch. He's the same with Letty. I know I got off light."

"If you're so mad at Dom than why don't you and Vince leave him like Gem and I did?" Mia put Vince's own question into words.

"What would he do then?"

"Dom?"

"Yeah, Dom. He's barely on speaking terms with Letty. If we left he'd be all alone."

"You mean like he left Vince and I? Why is that such a big deal when it's Dom?"

Leon hung his head in shame. "I don't know. I guess since I've been worrying what Dom thought about everything for so long."

"Look how well that worked out."

"Point taken. I think they're about to start to play." Leon gestured to the stage. Mia looked toward her friend and away from Leon.

"Welcome to another open mic night here at The Cobalt Café," Nalia started off the evening. "Back to open yet another one for us is our very own Gem Davis with the band Indigo Sound. Gem," she gave the floor to the blonde woman dressed in red with the electric blue guitar slung over her shoulder.

"Hello again everyone and thanks for coming out to the Cobalt." Gem adjusted the mic stand and smiled out at the crowd. Mia could see it was forced but figured the rest of the people wouldn't know a thing. "We're going to kick the evening off for you with a number not quite as subdued as the ones you've heard from us lately. So without any further adieu, I ask you to 'Consider This'."

The song started on a loud, rock and roll drum rift from Elliott. He pounded out several beats before Gem played a chord on her bass. Immediately afterward Vince played the same chord a few octaves higher on his own guitar. It sounded very much like the two guitars were fighting and back talking each other. This happened a few times before they played two separate things at the exact same time, as though having a heated argument.

Gem had done something she knew was slightly insane right before she went on stage. She had changed her lyrics. The first part of the song hadn't ever been quite right to her, she'd just liked the music enough to call enough, enough. But after she had let Vince back into the band, even on a temporary basis, the real first verse had just popped into her head. So she'd substituted it. Not like anyone would ever even know. She still didn't share her lyrics with them beforehand. Nope, she could only read her diary out loud once a night.

"_I've tripped again and things are starting to get interesting. Don't give me choices 'cause I can't decide. My mind is soaked in words. I've come to terms with all my insecurities and purity's no friend of mine._

"_And dreamin' doesn't do no good cause I don't want to lie that I'm ok and I'm alright. I'd rather take it and forget it. _

"_Consider this a warning."_

_♫ _

Mia recovered her shock of seeing Vince back up on stage with Gem about when she realized what I've tripped again and things are starting to get interesting meant. And she was damn right she had tripped by letting Vince back into her life when she had sworn he was finally out. Stupid girl! What was her problem?

"_Cause I'll start another fight and you'll say it's all alright. I wait for the day that you find I'm too much for you baby. So lay your hands over me and feel what you only see but don't bother wasting your time if you're trying to change me."_

The guitarists went into another battle of wills. The bass growled and the guitar sassed back. To most of the audience it was simply some very clever writing. To a handful of people in the know, it was much more. A symbolic battle of wills on stage.

♫

From a dark corner close to the door Dom watched the best friend he'd ever known play in a band that wasn't some foolish metal cover. For as long as he'd known him Vince had always had the need to have a guitar in his hands. At every party they'd ever thrown there was ol' Coyote sitting in the corner playing rifts he just made up as he went along. But the musical gift that Vince had been given hadn't been put to such good use in forever.

It was a different man on stage than the one Dom remembered leaving and a different man than the one who stumbled home in a stupor every night and never spoke to anyone anymore. Why couldn't he be that Vince every day and not just on stage for a mere ten minutes one night a week?

_Because someone did something that broke him. And then after he had found a normal woman to care for him, someone came back again and did it all over again because someone is everything they accused him of being, he just won't let himself see it even though he has always known it's true._

Dom could pinpoint the moment it occurred to him that he wasn't shouldering his share of the blame for how badly things had fallen apart around his house. He hadn't been right to just barge back into their lives after so long apart. He hadn't done the right thing by keeping his sister and friend in the dark about his plans, location, and the fact he was ok. That Letty and Leon were ok.

When had he become such an arrogant asshole?

When had he stopped putting his family first?

He took them all for granted. Even Letty. Letty, who stuck by him no matter what and never left his side. Oh, she threatened that she would and told him what an ass he was. But she never left him. He gave her every reason and still she stayed. It was her tenaciousness, but it was more than that too.

He had asked her once, back in the summer before everything went wrong, if she was going to stick by him. The answer she had given him was "maybe" but the answer in her eyes had been 'forever'. And she'd held to the answer in her heart, not the careful one she'd given him out loud. She could have left him any time. Could have gone running back to Mia. She had known Mia would have her back with open arms. She could have had any guy she wanted too, if she had kicked his sorry ass to the curb. But she hadn't. He had made a stupid decision and she had stuck by him through it.

And how did he repay her? By breaking her family into even smaller pieces and shitting all over her. All they did was fight. He had less of a relationship with Letty than he did with Vince. And that was certainly saying something powerful because he and Vince didn't have a relationship to speak of. They were worse than strangers. Strangers didn't hate each other. But Dom was fairly certain that Vince hated him. Maybe hated himself just as much, but each of those things hurt Dom equally. He had gone from being such a good friend to Vince that they would have picked each other and their friendship over almost anything else to someone he was fairly certain Vince would just shoot, shovel and shut up about-had he thought Dom was even worth the effort of shovelling a six foot two grave over.

He had some changes to make. He was going to start with the most important one. The way he was treating the woman at his side, who'd stuck by his side, and was continuing to stick with him. He draped an arm over her slim shoulders and pulled her close to his side to show he wasn't marking territory, that he wanted her close. "They're good, aren't they?"

"Of course they are. They've got Vince." She answered with absolute faith in her childhood friend. Whether he was talking to her or not didn't matter to Letty. She and Vince had been like brother and sister ever since she'd started tagging along behind them when they were all kids.

Dom leaned down and kissed the top of her head with a smile. He noticed Mia and Leon. "Want to go see if they let us sit with them without telling us to go to hell?"

"They wouldn't tell me to go to hell anyway. But we could give them a chance to accept you," Letty answered with a shadow of her trademark cheek.

He chuckled and they went over to the table where Leon and Mia sat. They got a dirty look from Mia but she didn't say anything. Maybe she sensed the new found awareness from Dominic, or she just didn't want to make a scene. Either way he was glad she let him sit at their table with Letty on his lap and just enjoy the music.

"_You're kinda cool but I know better than to break the rules of messing with a lesson that I'll never learn. I'll go from bad to worse and later back to better but I'll never better bridges that I'm bent to burn. And dreamin' doesn't do no good cause I don't wanna lie that I'm ok and I'm alright I'd rather take it and forget it._

"_Consider this a warning. _

"_Cause I'll start another fight and you'll say it's all alright. I wait for the day when you find I'm too much for you baby. So lay your hands over me and feel what you only see but don't bother wasting your time if you're trying to change me._

"_And this is a warning. Ah ah ah oh oh oh oh_

"_This is a warning. Ah ah ah oh oh oh oh_

"_This is your warning._

"_Dreamin' doesn't do no good cause I don't wanna lie that I'm ok and I'm alright. I'd rather take it and forget it. _

"_Consider this a warning._

"_Cause I'll start another fight and you'll say it's all alright. I wait for the day when you find I'm too much for you baby. So lay those hands over me and feel what you only see. But don't bother wasting your time if you're trying to change me._

"_If you're trying to change me._

"_If you're trying to change me._

"_Oh oh oh oh oh oh whoa."_


	11. In the Rough

AN: Some questions were asked that I've never addressed. Sunshine37: I mapped out which songs I wanted to use when and what they made me think of when I heard them and then I started writing chapters in that order. I've always known what the first and last songs were going to be. The middle ones changed a bit as the order of the things I wanted to have occur changed too. I don't know what it was about Anna's album that made me think her songs were all telling a story from inception to finale but that's what happened in my head when I heard the album. Somewhere along the journey Gem and Vince took over the story and took it a bit off the course I thought I had all mapped out, but it's been a good thing, most of the time. I don't write quite the same way when I have a plan. It's not bad or good exactly. Just different.

It's hard for me to think that after this chapter there is only one song left, which by my plan means only one chapter left to write. I can't believe it. This story feels like my coming of age as an author. I can't explain that very well, but it's like with this story I've proven that I can write serious pieces based in reality if I'm so inclined. It just so happens that I'm looking forward to going back to my larger than life style when this is done. It's been fun and it's forced me to grow as an author more than I thought I ever could. If I hadn't I never would have pulled it off in a way that would make me happy about how it went. But this story doesn't totally feel like me. The feelings are an effort for me to write each and every chapter and it leaves me drained hard core. I'm much more in my element writing about Kat or Storm than I am Gem. I guess that comes from the elements of self insert about both those characters. Instead of trying to act like Gem would in my mind like I have to with this story, with them I can just ask myself what I'd do and write about it.

I hope the ending I have in mind doesn't disappoint anyone and doesn't leave anyone wanting for something for a character. I'm going to try and remember to tie up everything for everyone. But we'll worry about that more in the next chapter.

♫edited to do what I should have done in the first place♫ 

**Catalyst**

By - _TempestRaces_

Ch. 11 – **In the Rough**

**"A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." **

"She's good, this friend of yours," Dom said to Mia as the band started to pack up and leave the stage.

"Yes she is," Mia answered stiffly, before clamming up. Dom had a hell of a lot of explaining to do before she would ever accede to his presence in her life at something she considered her right. Watching Gem and Vince perform was her right as their best friend. Even if Vince had driven a wedge between himself and the girls in their group of three, they had still been a close group for a long time. A trying, emotional, unsettling, defining, _long_ time, considering what a short time it had been, in terms of days and months. A long time that Dominic had been conspicuously absent from.

"I can't remember the last time I saw Vince put his guitar to such good use either."

Either Dom couldn't take a hint, or he was determined to win her over and thought praising Gem and her band was the way. Mia wasn't sure which was more likely. Or which she would prefer to be dealing with, for that matter. Dom hadn't made much of an attempt to explain himself yet. He had made attempts to have her and Vince simply overlook the year previous and allow him back into their good graces. Until such as time as he came to her, explained himself fully and asked her to forgive him she wasn't even going to entertain a thought of doing so. She was not going to overlook Dom's mistake this time. This one was too big, too damaging, too serious, to just overlook as if it was just another time he had shown up late to supper without calling ahead.

If Letty was willing to let him off the hook so easily, that was Letty's prerogative and Mia was having none of it. Same as she wasn't having any of the conversation that Dom was trying to start and was barely tolerating Leon's presence in the chair beside her. She was far from ready to let bygones be bygones. Not until she got some honest explanations to her questions and some heartfelt apologies to match. Not just from Dominic, but from Letty too. Leon, Mia knew, was both really, truly sorry for what he had done, and had told her so a few hundred times. She was still being cool to him, but it was lessening day by day. Her resentment with Leon would fade, now that he had told both she and Gem he was sorry for being such a moron, and meant it too. Plus, Vince had forgiven him. Dominic, no one had forgiven.

"I somehow doubt Vince would care to know you were here seeing it now," she bit out in answer to Dom's comment. A harsh reminder, but true as well.

Dom winced. Mia was right. That didn't mean he wanted to be reminded of the fact. Not when he was finally clued in to what he had been doing to his family. "We," Dom paused to plant another chaste kiss on the crown of Letty's head, "just wanted to see what all the fuss was about."

Leon did a double take when he saw Dom and Letty being affectionate with each other. For the last two weeks if either of them had tried anything like that the other would have blown up, wondering what the hidden motivation behind the gesture was. Now all of a sudden they were cool? They were in love again? Since when?

Mia was also touched to see her brother and long time friend acting so much more like they had when they had first started dating instead of the distant fire and ice way they had always seemed to treat each other once the heists had begun. She wasn't touched enough to let any of them off the hook.

"The fuss is about Gem following her dream. It was about Vince making something worthwhile of himself too, but you coming back sort of put an end to that part of it."

"How do you figure?" Dominic asked, starting to get mad and frustrated with his sister's attitude. She wasn't willing to give him an inch.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Mia asked with her head tilted to one side in mock question. She didn't wait for an answer, but carried on without pause. "Once Vince said all those stupid things about Gem to you and she heard them, she didn't just break up with him. She kicked him out of the band."

Dom looked poleaxed. He recovered fairly quickly. "Then why is he up there with her now?"

Mia shrugged. She didn't really know the answer so she wasn't going to offer one.

"Because he knew if he didn't come down here and make her let him play she wouldn't get to, Dawg. She might be able to sing, but from what Vince says she sure can't play the guitar."

"What the fuck is she holding in her hands than?" Dom asked, his ignorance of musical instruments showing.

"She plays bass," Mia filled in with a sigh of irritation. "It's a bass guitar, Dominic. Now you should leave before they get down off the stage and find you here."

"It's a free country." Dom's anger made him answer out of line. He knew that he was supposed to be trying to make his sister see how changed he was. Answering her like he was certainly wasn't helping him in that regard. He sighed. "I just wish someone could see I'm trying."

"You must have just started trying in the last ten minutes?" Mia asked cattily. "Because I really haven't seen the fruits of your labour in the last few weeks."

Leon looked over at Dom, and it was clear that his thoughts echoed this sentiment.

"Ok, you're all right. I haven't been trying. I've been acting like an asshole instead. I spent the last year acting like an asshole. But I'm going to try, if it means anything to anyone. If everyone is just going to treat me like I have a catchy disease anyway I might as well save my energy."

Letty leaned her head down on Dom's shoulder, as if to show she had again found herself on Dom's side.

That was all well and good for Dom and Letty, Mia mused, but it did nothing for the rest of their broken family. "You better start with Gem if you want to have a chance to make up with Vince," Mia retorted as she turned in her seat to look at Dom.

"I'd rather start with finding out if I'll ever have any sort of relationship with my sister first. Mia, we grew up in the same house. We had the same parents. I changed your diapers and chased off your first boyfriends. I taught you to drive, babysat you, fed you. I'd like to get some of my relationship with Vince back, I won't lie about it. But if you won't talk to me anymore, what's the point?"

"I'm going right back to my previous position Dom. If you want to have a chance to put any of this right, you need to start with Vince and Gem. I live with Gem. I won't have you around if it's going to upset her. She's been upset enough. She's not even from LA. She wouldn't have had anywhere to go if she and I weren't so tight." Mia seemed to vibrate with her suppressed rage. Dom was so obtuse! "She's in love with Vince! Are you too dense to see it, or does it just not matter to you? And he's in love with her! But then you waltzed in and pulled your same old shit and ruined it for both of them before they could even admit it to each other. Unless you can fix what you did to my two best friends I don't want you in my life." Mia stood up from the table and turned to leave before she said anything she couldn't take back.

"Mia, what do you mean my same old shit?" Dom growled out in anger.

Dom's question checked her and she turned back around to face him, incredulous he would dare presume to pretend he didn't know what she was talking about. "Are you sure you want me to go into it in present company?"

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about, so yeah, I'm sure."

"So you want me to talk about how Leon and Vince never had a girl in their life that you didn't 'test' for them to see if you could have her too? You want me to talk about how many of the girls you tried that stuff with fell for it? How many of them you didn't turn down after the damage was done, figuring if you already 'stole' them you may as well take advantage of that fact? How Vince actually thought that you would try that stuff with Gem and that there was a chance that she might fall for it too? You want me to go into that right now, in front of Letty?" Mia was out to hurt Dominic, and it was obvious. She regretted doing it in front of Letty, but it wasn't like Dominic had given her a lot of choice.

Leon looked away from the group of them, off over the tables filled with people to where the bartender was mixing drinks. He didn't want to seem like he had anything to do with _this_ one. True as it was, he certainly didn't want Dom to think he was the one who had told Mia about it. Told anyone about it, for that matter. He knew that Dom would see the whole situation as a matter between 'boys', not one that should ever have been shared with anyone outside the men on their team.

Dom flushed deep red under his dark skin and tan. "That was a long time ago."

Leon's attention was stolen off the bartender and slapped squarely back on Dom. He admitted it? In public _and_ in front of Letty? Was he insane?

"Yeah, maybe. Not long enough for it to be forgotten though. And not something that you ever admitted to doing and asked to be forgiven for either. Not something you ever told or showed the boys you'd stopped doing. Given how Gem thinks you were sizing her up, maybe not even something you're so far beyond either. No wonder Vince thought it would just be more of the same from you. It's all he remembers," Mia accused, trying to keep her voice down so the whole bar wouldn't end up knowing their business.

Dom rubbed his head. "You're right Mia." He couldn't deny it. She wasn't wrong and it would just be obvious at this point anyway. Dom could only surmise it was time for him to start owning up to a few home truths. "I'll start with explaining myself to Vince and see where it goes from there. Maybe I can convince him that I don't roll like that anymore. That I have the only woman I'll ever want in my life right here by my side."

Mia took a small measure of pity on her brother. If he was willing to say things like that about Letty right in front of Letty perhaps he really was trying to make a difference in his life. "You want some advice?" she asked in a tone a lot more friendly than the one she had been using until that point.

Dom nodded to the affirmative.

"Start with Gem. If you can get her to see why you did it and understand than she'll forgive Vince. If she forgives V than he'll be more willing to listen to you, and he'll be in a more receptive frame of mind to anything you say."

"The same Gem who shot _Leon_ down? How am I ever going to get her to listen to _me_?"

"That's the part you'll have to figure out on your own. Don't hassle her while she's at work, and don't try to talk to her anywhere that Letty's around giving out nasty looks either."

Letty looked up in shock. First she had to have some harsh facts about her man thrown in her face. Like it wasn't enough to know them and live them every day, she had to hear that _Mia_ even knew. Mia, of all people! Then she gets told that she has a bad attitude. _Oh hell no!_ "'Scuse me?"

"You figured that she would be after Dominic from the second you met her. You never once considered how it might have been Dominic who chased those girls and not the other way around, not for a second. You never even thought to consider that Gem might _only_ want Vince, might really care for Vince. You made a snap judgement against my girl and she noticed." Mia nodded yes softly in the face of Letty's disbelief. "You two need to work your shit out," she gestured between Letty and Dom, "and part of that has to be that _you_ stop putting it on other people. _He_ cheated on you. No other girls made him do it. And you accused him of it a hundred times more than it ever really happened. That stuff is between the two of you! Not the two of you and every other girl on earth that Dominic might find cute over the course of the next sixty years."

"Jesus Mia. I didn't know it was like that!"

"Oh save it Letty! A girl couldn't come around our place without you marking territory and giving her bad attitude and being in her face. No wonder I had no friends outside the team and the guys couldn't keep a girl around longer than one night. Not every girl on earth is a god damn racer chaser."

"I know that," Letty answered in a small voice. She wasn't use to being put in her place at all, let alone by Mia. Never mind so very violently.

"Then act like it for a change." Mia turned her back on the group again. She really had nothing further to say to them. Anything else she figured would just be overkill.

Dom let her go this time. He wasn't really sure what to say to her. Make it right with Gem, she said. How the fuck was he supposed to do that? Gem hated him. She had on sight. She had heard all the bad there was to hear, likely and then some, from Mia and Vince before he had ever come around her. Then he had sized her up. Not for himself to try and have, as both she and Mia seemed to think, but just to try and figure what about her had convinced Vince to settle down with her in the first place. He had just been trying to figure what about her was appealing to Vince, who normally went for the skankiest of the skanky, not the blonde girl next door who was looking for a commitment longer than until sunrise.

But both Gem and Vince had taken it the wrong way. Add to that what he had left Vince and Mia to go through without support from their family and he could even understand why Gem would have a very negative view of him and the hold he seemed to have over the rest of his team. But knowing that he had given her every reason to think he was everything his sister and former best friend had built him up to be, how was he now going to convince her that he wasn't so bad and was deserving of a chance to explain his side of the story? If he didn't find a way he might never have a relationship with his baby sister again. To say nothing of a friend who had been more like a brother to him ever since they were eight.

He wanted to set that all aside and fix what he had with Letty first. But he didn't think that was an option. He was going to have to try and fix both issues at once. He rubbed his head with a sigh. He just wished he had some idea how.

♫

Gem marched off the stage purposefully as soon as she had her bass disconnected from the amp. Rather than return to the green room as she normally would have done, she walked to the back room of the bar and stowed her bass there. She was in no mood to talk to Vince and did not want to see him out back, away from the prying eyes of the crowd. At least on stage they were in public and it limited what he could say, what interaction they could have.

When she left the back room and stood beside the bar, tying her apron on, it was a total shock to find out that he had respected her wishes and left. She had honestly expected to be avoiding him for the rest of the night as he sat in his corner and sulked while he drank. She was ashamed of herself for her feeling of bereftness that he wasn't there. Was that what she was reduced to? Being willing to be treated badly and feel bad about herself over a man she thought she simply had to have in her life? What had she been thinking, letting him stick around tonight? Mia would have every right to be pissed off at her when they saw each other next. She had gone and done the exact thing she had committed not to do anymore.

With a shake of her head she went back to work, willing her mind onto other subjects. The subject of Vince and how things were with him was a tired one. She had played it out in her head over and over again. The outcome was favourable only in her day dreams. In any semblance of reality he drank himself into an early grave and she worked the Cobalt for the rest of her life and rented a room in Mia's huge house she got when she was a doctor. She got to watch her friend be happy, live her dreams and have a family. All while she pined for 'the good old days' and 'what might have been, had I made it big in Los Angeles' and forgot to really live what was left of her life.

She had two interviews to conduct the next day for the position of lead guitarist in her band. Even though she was sure neither of them would be what she was looking for, the thought that one of them might be still filled her with dread. When she found a new guitarist that would truly be the end. She would finally have to accept that her time with Vince was over. Final with a big, permanent, period. She sighed. Time to get on with her night. More pretending to be happy while she waited on genuinely happy people. Something had to give, and soon. How long could she go on living like she was a zombie inside while she tried to give off a normal front to the rest of the world?

The rest of the night passed swiftly, a small blessing Gem was very thankful for as she slid into the comfort of her Solara and headed for home. It was up early in the morning for her, back to the café for Mia. The café was starting to get to her. Go figure, what with everything else in her life falling to pieces. It wasn't in any way interesting to her. Working in a restaurant was what she had left home to avoid. Granted, running Mia's sandwich counter all day wasn't anywhere near as complicated as running her parent's place would have been, but it still wasn't what she wanted to do. Could she tough it out long enough for Mia to finish school? She was starting to doubt it highly. Could the place afford to pay the wages for someone else to work there during the day?

She would have to ask Mia about it soon. Working two jobs left her no time for herself, almost no time for her music, and no time to even think about practising with Tamica and Elliot during the week.

When she walked into the apartment it was to find every light off and Mia already in bed. With a grateful sigh Gem fell into her own bed after pausing only long enough to change into her night clothes. She fell asleep almost immediately for once and slept the night through, thoroughly exhausted.

She woke up the next morning later than she had been waking and wandered out to the kitchen to find Mia still drinking her first cup of coffee. "Morning," she yawned.

Mia did a double take. "Morning. How are you?"

"Tired, but ok otherwise. You?" Gem helped herself to the coffee before sitting down. She took a sip and grimaced before taking another one. Coffee was a necessary evil for her. No amount of cream and sugar could make it taste good, just tolerable.

"Surprised. Why are you still home?"

"I'm not going to leave for work so early anymore. There's no need."

"Good. You sure you're ok, after last night I mean?"

Gem's eyebrows drew together and her head cocked to the side as she thought about Mia's question. "I'm surprisingly alright." She nodded as if to confirm her statement. She was alright. Still not back to normal, but just–alright. "I have two interviews to do this afternoon in the hope of finding a new guitarist so it would be really super if you could try to make sure you get to Toretto's on time."

"Shouldn't be a problem," Mia answered before rising from the table and rinsing her mug before putting it in the dishwasher. "And if it was going to be I'd make sure it wasn't now that I know. I want you to find someone else soon, so that both of you can stop this game you're playing at–being half in and half out of each other's lives."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, finally. Just don't get your hopes up too high. These are auditionees number eight and nine and so far no one has even been remotely talented and able to read sheet music at the same time."

"Why's that so important?"

"Because I can't play the song for them, only write the score. If they can't read the notes on the page, if they have to wait to hear the song played how I want it played, they'll never know it. I'm just not good enough at the guitar to play it for them well enough for them to pick it up how it has to be played. Whoever ends up playing guitar for us has to be able to read written music. Even being proficient at tablature would be ok, but not only being able to pick up new stuff by ear. Most of all, they have to be able to interpret the song the way I feel it, not just the way I wrote it." Gem waved her arms around in front of her body to illustrate her inability to find the words she wanted for what she was trying to say. "I'm not sure how much of how well Vince played in Indigo was because of how good he was, and how much of it was because of how well he knew me and what I was trying to convey with my music."

"I never knew playing guitar in a band was so complicated. Vince managed to play in one rock or metal band after another in high school."

"Yeah, and most people who play in high school bands learn the cover songs they play off tabs or by ear, not sheet music. Heck, I picked up bass by ear but then I learned to read music in high school band. Add the fact that I need an adult to all that and it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack." Gem tossed her hands up in irritation.

"How can you say you need an adult when you've made due with Vince all this time?" Mia asked with a one sided smile.

Gem laughed, she couldn't help it. "I don't know." She turned serious. "Vince was quite adult when it came to feeling responsible for everything, including showing up on Thursday nights."

"Yeah, he sure did take on all the responsibility for a lot of what went on didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did."

Like neither girl knew where to take the conversation after that, they both trailed off. They stayed in the kitchen another moment or two, each lost in her own thoughts, before Mia noticed the time.

"Shoot! We both better get moves on if we don't want to be late."

Gem looked at the clock. "Aw man, you're right."

Within fifteen minutes they were sharing the elevator car on the way to the ground level. Each went her separate way in the parking lot.

♫

It was about ten o'clock. She stood outside the café that one short year ago she would have felt free to walk into, help herself to a cold drink from the cooler, sit down at the counter and shoot the breeze with Mia for a few minutes or even hours. Now she stood in the shadows at the side of the building, nervous as hell of walking into the interior and trying to talk to Mia's blonde friend. Mia's blonde haired, blue eyed, new best friend.

Damn that stung. They got to run for a year with no home and no clue what was going on with the only life they had ever known. Mia got to go back to school and got a new best friend. A normal, female best friend who acted like a girl and wore female clothes and didn't work in a garage. Mia hadn't had to put up with talking to no one but Leon and Dominic for a whole year. She got to come home and find out Mia had replaced her with rock star Barbie.

On some level, she knew Mia's life in the year previous hadn't been the lark she was making it out to be in her own head. But she was still hurting from finding out she had been replaced from Mia's life. Replaced with someone who fit better. Someone normal, like Mia. Someone who liked to cook and wear girly clothes and go shopping and drink wine, not swill beer right out of the bottle. Someone who was content to go to races and just be there, not someone who felt the need to out-race, out-cuss, out-tough, and just generally out-badass all the guys.

While they'd been running around Mexico, running like hell away from a non-existent threat and living day to day, Mia and Vince had been rebuilding their lives and moving on. Her world felt like it had paused one day last August and hadn't started again until just now, just when she had arrived back in L.A. It was like she had been living a huge nightmare since then and was just waking up now that she was home again. But things in the real world weren't the same as before she had gone to sleep. Like Van Winkle, it was like she had slept through a whole year, only to wake up and find that time hadn't stopped while she slumbered.

Time had marched on. While things had stagnated in Mexico, it seemed things had changed and developed in California. All their stuff was packed up from the house, just like they had never existed. Mia had replaced them with someone else in her life. Vince played guitar in a band and ran the garage. And what had happened in the desert had been the catalyst for all that change. It just went to prove that change wasn't always a good thing. Of course, if you believed Mia, change had been a very good thing in California. That was until they came home from running and ruined it all, at least.

Now it fell to them, her, Dominic and Leon, to try and claw back some of the past. Damn it, she wanted to wake up! Wake up and find out that life was back the way it was before. Before Dom and Vince got their way and they did the stupid truck heists, before Jesse died, before they spent a year running away from their family and the reality of that life. She didn't want to face the reality of trying to make a new life. She just wanted the old one back. But since that wasn't an option, she had to try and salvage as much of the old to bring into the new as she could.

Convince Gem, Mia had told Dominic. The self same Gem who had told Leon he didn't have a thing to say that she wanted to hear. How was hard headed Dom going to succeed where charming green eyes had failed? He wasn't likely going to. So when Mia had said they needed to change Gem's mind, her mind had been made up in that moment. She would try and convince Gem to hear Dom out before he got his courage together and went to talk to her. The more they wore on Gem's resolve the better, right?

On that thought Letty pushed away from the hood of her car with a sigh and started toward the large open front of the café. She pulled her pants up as she went. When she stepped up into the store front she pushed her shades onto the top of her head and tugged her ponytail tighter nervously. It was one of her only nervous fidgets. She wouldn't allow herself to have any that gave away the fact she was unsure. They had to be things she could pawn off as normal behaviour.

Seeing Gem had yet to notice her, she sat down and picked up one of the paper menus on the counter. She could only figure she had made a noise because Gem turned to her a second later.

"Get you anything?"

Letty realized that she could pinpoint the exact moment awareness of who she had just offered to help came over Gem. Her eyes went from merely bored to cold. "Naw, I'm good," she answered the question anyway. "You got a minute?"

"Yeah, only because Mia doesn't get out of school for two more hours. I'm pretty much a captive audience."

Letty sighed at the hostility. "I wanna talk to you about everything."

"What do you have to say that Leon didn't already?"

"I got some experience in how Dominic works that Leon don't."

"I don't care how Dominic works, or thinks, or acts, because he will never be a part of my life."

Letty watched as Gem attempted to suppress a shudder. Gem really didn't like Dom at all. At least she wouldn't be chasing after him, Letty mused candidly. "But he's really changed since we got back. I'm not just sayin' that either. Ok, maybe not since we got back, but in the last few days. He's trying to make it up to everyone, but he can't do that if no one will talk to him 'cause they're on your side and know you sure ain't on his."

"That isn't going to change. I can't believe I'm even talking to you! You of all people, who thought I was after the pig you date from the minute you met me." It was like the reason why Letty didn't like her washed over Gem in that moment. Because the Latina woman was scared that she would be after the 'king of the streets'. As if she would have ever chosen someone like Dominic over someone like Vince. She would take hardworking and dependable over a selfish, conceited pig any day. Image wasn't anything to her and that was all Dominic had to offer, in her opinion. The image he portrayed of a street racing king–legend. And Gem simply didn't care about any of it.

Letty looked like she had an angry retort to make to Gem's statement, of course being Letty she did have an angry retort, but she managed to keep it to herself. She knew that being a bitch wasn't the way to make Gem really hear her point. But damn, old habits were hard to break. "He gave me good reason to be suspicious of any girl around this place one too many times I guess."

Gem looked at Letty in shock when Letty made her admission. It was the last thing she had expected to hear. "Than why did you stay with him so long?"

Letty shrugged. "Dunno really." She looked up at Gem and saw some of the ice blue was gone from her aquamarine eyes. The only way to break through to the other side was to be honest, and Letty knew it. Being a bad ass just wasn't going to cut it. "Ok, that's a lie. Because he's Dom. You don't know him so you don't understand. He's just like gravity. He has the field around him that just pulls people in. I guess I was just always an easy target for his pull. I had a crush on him from the time I turned twelve."

"You were into boys that young?"

Letty grinned, lost in her thoughts. "Yeah, but I was into cars way before that, and way more than boys at first too. And Dom's dad owned the local garage, let us all hang out there on weekends and help. I guess my feelings for Dom grew the more I hung out around him at the shop. And he started to have some for me around my sixteenth. He has this," Letty waved her hands around in the air in front of herself, unable to find words for what she wanted to say, "intensity. I can't explain it so I won't even try. But he's hard to say no to once you're pulled in. You're the first person I can ever remember that didn't get sucked down into caring what he thought about you the moment you met him. Just look at Brian. He was a cop and he knew all the dirt about Dom there was to know before they ever met too. But Brian still got sucked right down into Dom's world. Just like everyone else. Everyone but you."

"After what he, and the two of you, did to Vince and Mia, why would I care what he thought about me? If he's going to do things like that to his sister and best friend, why would anyone care what he thought about them?"

"He made a mistake." Letty cut Gem off as she went to retort to her statement. "Yeah, he made a huge fuckin' mistake. A huge, stupid, selfish mistake. And so did Leon and I for allowing it to go so far and for not standing up to him and insisting to come home or find out what was going on up here at least. But Dom did a lot of good before he did that one really stupid, selfish, bad thing."

"Like cheat on his long time girlfriend all the time and try to keep his best friend subservient by making him think he liked being nothing but a less than intelligent follower. Like showing you all time and time again how easy it would be for the big bad king of the streets to replace you all," Gem said, frowning.

Realizing it wasn't going very well, Letty brought out her big guns. "Like raise Mia when their father was killed and she woulda went into foster care if he didn't fight to keep her, keep her in the house she grew up in. It would have been easier for twenty year old Dominic to let the state take seventeen year old Mia away from him. What twenty year old guy wants to be raising his little sister? If he hadn't been dating me already taking care of Mia would have put a big crimp in his chances of meeting girls, but Dom didn't care about any of that. She was his sister and there was no question that she would stay with him. There wasn't any selfishness in that."

"But like you said, she was his blood. How he's treated Mia isn't totally applicable to how he's treated everyone else."

"There's more Dom's done that wasn't selfish. Like give Jesse and Leon a place to live when they didn't have no where and would'a been living in their cars if he hadn't taken them in. Like give them jobs. Like keep us all together as a family when we could'a been spilt up all over California. Like work his ass off to keep the garage running and keep the house paid for and keep food on the table. Yeah, he ain't a saint. He messed around on me more than once because it was so easy to do. Yeah, he used Vince to do a lot of his dirty work.

"But what you're not mentioning is how Vince allowed it. How it made V's life easier so he didn't push it. How I enabled him to keep on doing what he was doing by taking him back time after time. But he's really trying now. I'm gonna give him one more chance not to fuck up this time. I'd really appreciate it if you would too. I think, in the long run, Mia and Vince would appreciate it more than you think, too. We were more than just a team. We were a family once. We could be again, but it all hinges on you."

"How do you figure?" Gem wasn't being obtuse. She really didn't see how she could possibly play such a pivotal role in the whole situation. If Vince and Mia wanted to forgive Dom they would. As she and Vince weren't even speaking, she didn't know what she had to do with Vince's desire to forgive Dominic.

"Because Mia won't even entertain thoughts of hearing Dom out if you still hate him. She told him as much. She said she won't have anything to do with him if she thinks it'll make you uncomfortable. And Vince is still so angry about everything that he won't talk to any of us. Well, 'cept Leon and since Leon could charm penguins into buying ice that don't count," Letty grinned cheekily.

"Those green eyes were pretty persuasive." Gem couldn't totally suppress the smile the lifted the corners of her mouth either. Leon had managed to make her both hear him out and think on what he said. So Letty was no slouch herself in the charm regard. Gem couldn't fathom why she was still hearing the dark haired girl out.

She figured it likely had something to do with the fact that opening herself and her feelings up for the scrutiny of strangers wasn't something Letty did a lot of. Gem could just sense it. She was pretty much baring her soul to try and have a shot at having her family back. It meant something to Gem, it really did. She just didn't know if it meant enough for her to look the other way on her feelings of discuss and hatred of Dominic and allow him to say his piece. Of course, it might also have something to do with the fact she was very well aware how much it would hurt to have a boyfriend who cheated on you all the time, and because you were so in love with him you couldn't or wouldn't leave him.

She kept coming back to one thought, ever since Letty had stopped speaking. Did she really have the right to continue to be the reason that Mia couldn't have a relationship with her brother? Even if she couldn't forgive Dom, or at least come to tolerate him, did she not owe it to Mia to give her blessing for her to have her family around if she was so inclined? It just didn't feel fair for her to be the reason why Mia couldn't have a relationship with her brother if she wanted one. And if Mia was only saying she wouldn't entertain seeing him again because of what it would do to her, that wasn't right.

"I can promise you that I'll tell Mia I don't mind if she wants to see Dominic again. I can't promise you that I'll ever forgive him or want anything to do with him."

"Thank you for that much, but do you think you could at least just hear him out if he comes around here to talk? Just ten minutes even."

"I'll see what happens if the situation ever comes up, ok?"

"Sure. It's more than I thought you'd offer, to be honest." Letty stood up from the counter. "I better get back to the garage before they miss me gone."

"Alright. See you."

"Maybe you will," Letty answered enigmatically before walking out the door. A moment later Gem heard her car start up and saw it drive off down the road toward DT. She existed in her own world until Mia showed up at twelve sharp to relieve her. Instead of taking off right away she moved to the 'customer' side of the counter and sat.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Rather than answer her question Gem looked up at Mia from her seat with questions of her own in her eyes. "You do know that I wouldn't stand in your way or pass judgement or stop being your friend if you wanted to start seeing your brother again, right?"

"Yeah, I know that," Mia answered, her tone belaying the fact that she thought the issue shouldn't even be a question. "Why?"

"Because Letty was in here earlier. She wanted to talk me into talking to Dom because she thinks that you won't have anything to do with him or the rest of them until I forgive Dom."

Mia knew instinctively she couldn't tell Gem that she had put the idea into their heads to try and find a catalyst for Gem and Dom having it out so that each could see how the other really was and perhaps end up finalizing some things. She knew that Gem would resent it. She shrugged. "I don't know what they're thinking, other than that maybe because we're such good friends that if he manages to win you over that you'll come back to me and try to smooth things over."

"Could things be smoothed over with you Mia? Could you forgive him for abandoning you here to deal with Vince in the aftermath of what happened and for leaving you here to death with making final arrangements for Jesse all alone?"

"I think so, in the end. I mean, he's my brother. Couldn't you forgive Doug and Nick almost anything in the end, with enough time? We were raised together and he was all I had after dad died. Am I supposed to throw him away forever over something really stupid he did now that he knows how much he hurt me?"

Gem shrugged in answer, even though she knew the answer was yes she could forgive her brothers almost anything with time and no, Mia wasn't supposed to forget she had a brother over what he had done. "Does he really know how badly he hurt you and Vince with what he did though? Does Dominic have it in him to see things from someone else's point of view that clearly?"

"The old Dom likely wouldn't have, no. But the way he is now, he just might. He's different since they came back. Not right since, but since the last few days." Mia realized she was going to have to admit how she knew Dom had matured in a lot of ways. "He came down to the Cobalt on Thursday because he and Letty wanted to see Vince play. He was just, different. He was treating Letty like she was a lady and he knew she was alive. It was just strange, but in a good way. He even admitted he had been behaving like an asshole."

"Before everything, was he really as nice as Letty said?" Gem wanted to understand. Everything felt so unsettled again, and she needed Mia's info to attempt to put everything straight again. "Did he really take Jesse and Leon in just because they had no where else to go?"

"Yeah. He's a lot like Dad in that way. Dad kept Letty and Vince because they didn't have anywhere else to go. Dom gave Jesse and Leon a place to stay and a job for that same reason. He saw they were running from something that no one should have to deal with and he gave them a place to stop running. Dom's not perfect. He's always had an impulse control issue. Just look at what he did to Kenny Linder. But I just think he might have a chance to work past it all now. But he still has to atone to everyone he wronged first. And that means he has to at least explain himself to you and Vince."

"He didn't really wrong me. I wasn't a part of your world back then."

"He wronged you when he barged back into our lives and acted in such a way as to make Vince think life with Dom was again going to be same stuff, different day. Maybe it wasn't as direct for you as it was for the rest of us, but he still managed to hurt your feelings. And it was his own actions that made you hate him. You heard about them second hand, but they all still happened."

"I guess. Why hasn't he explained to Vince yet?"

"He's tried. Vince won't give him the time of day. Of course, with Vince drunk over half the time and hung over and nasty the rest, I guess it'd be hard to explain anything to him."

"Not that it isn't when he's in a good mood and sober either," Gem answered. "So you think I should hear Dom out if, and I stress if, he comes around to try and talk to me?"

"Yeah. I think if Vince hears you heard Dom out, he just might. And if he does than even if he can't forgive Dom for what he did, it just might stop eating him from inside the way it is now."

"Ok, I'm not going to go looking to talk to Dom, but if he comes looking for me I'll give him a few minutes before I send him packing. Ok?"

"Sure." Mia looked at the clock. "You should go if you don't want to miss your meeting at the Cobalt."

Gem checked her watch. "Darn! I'll have to really rush if I'm going to make it on time."

Mia didn't miss the glint of pleasure that entered Gem's eyes. "Yeah, you look really put out about that."

Gem laughed. She was busted. "Ok, maybe now that I have a nice car that's not going to fall apart around me I enjoy going fast every once in awhile."

"That's how it starts Gem! You just wait. You'll be racing that car in no time."

"Don't hold your breath!" Gem called back over her shoulder as she made her way out into the sun and over to her car. She started it and backed out of her spot before heading toward the Cobalt, where Barry had generously allowed her to hold her auditions.

She rushed into the bar after parking the car. She was ten minutes late. Thankfully, she had set up the first audition for half an hour after she had planned to meet Elliott and Tamica. She rushed up to her two friends after she pushed through the door. "I'm so sorry I'm late!" she rushed to explain. "I was talking to Mia and lost track of time."

"It's ok Gem. The first one doesn't show up until half an hour after you decided we should meet up, remember?"

"I guess it was a good thing too, huh Elliott?"

"If you're going to be running late on purpose so you can speed to your destinations, then yes, it's a good idea." Elliott grinned.

"You got me!" Gem admitted with a chuckle. "So, no sign of the first one yet?"

"Not yet. Its ten minutes 'til you told him to be here though."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you should always show up fifteen minutes early to an appointment, Tamica? Good first impressions and all that."

Before Tamica could answer, the door of the Cobalt opened, allowing a slice of daylight to intrude into the darkened interior before the door swung shut again and left the bar again in shadows. Gem and her two friends were at the front of the room, beside the stage. The door was in the back wall, so the newcomer had to walk across the entire bar to reach them.

"This the auditions for Indigo Sound?"

The guy couldn't have been much more than twenty or twenty-one, Gem mused as she looked at him. He wasn't really anything to look at. He didn't have Elliott's flair for extreme colours or Tamica's flair for unique outfits. Gem noted his medium brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was of average height and weight as well. Gem thought, looking at him, that he might just be her counterpart in the male world. He was just–average. She hoped against hope that his guitar skills were anything but. "Yes it is. I'm Gem Davis, I sing lead, write our songs and music and play bass. This is Elliott, who plays drums and this is Tamica who plays piano slash keyboards, programs a lot of the alternative instrument lines into the keyboard and sings back up vocals too." Gem introduced everyone.

"I'm Kevin. How is this going to work?"

"Well, I have a song I want you to play. If you manage to play the first song on your own I'm going to give you a second song and we're going to play it together. Ok?"

Kevin shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

He moved to set up his guitar. Gem and her friends shared a look. Kevin really didn't have the attitude they were looking for, if his actions so far were anything to go by. Once he had his guitar plugged in Gem handed over the sheet music for the song. "I'll give you a few minutes to look that over, and you can feel free to use the music stand if you want to read along as you play."

"About that," Kevin looked slightly nervous. "I don't actually read sheet music."

"Ok," Gem fought an irate sigh. What part of 'must read music' had been so hard for all these people to understand? Had they read her add at all? "Do you understand tabs?" It wasn't her preferred way for their guitarist to learn their music, but she'd put up with it for someone who was good and fit in well.

"Yeah."

Gem gave him the sheets of tablature to look over. "You can go ahead when you're ready." The song she had given him was for Third Eye Blind's 'Semi-charmed kinda life'. It wasn't really the kind of music they played, but it was mildly challenging for a guitarist. She just hoped that Kevin didn't already, by some twist of fate, know the song off by heart.

After a moment of mock strumming and intense reading, Kevin put pick to strings and started to play the song. He wasn't that bad, but he wasn't fantastic either. Gem figured that he could become quite good, but it was going to take time and effort, both on his part and on the part of someone who would have to teach him to read music and the finer parts of playing the guitar in a band which wasn't based around screaming and heavy metal.

But he was still good enough that she intended to let him finish the first song and give him the second one, the one that the rest of the band would join in on to see how well he blended into their group. "That was pretty good," she said once Kevin had finished the song. She walked over to him and handed him the second set of sheets. "This is the second song I want you to do. We're going to play it with you to see how we function as a group."

"Ok."

Gem unpacked her bass from its case and jacked it into the amp. She couldn't stop the look of love that crossed over her face as she handled the blue instrument. So much in her life couldn't be held steady. But her bass, it was always there. Always ready to be played and always waiting on her.

The second song she had chosen to use for the auditions was 'Missing You' by Jem. The irony wasn't lost on her, given the artist's name, plus it was a good song which would challenge any guitarist they auditioned to pick it up in a few minutes. She turned to the rest of the band. "You all ready?"

Everyone nodded. Kevin looked pretty grim. "I don't know this song. How'm I supposed to play it if I never heard it before?"

"That's why I was looking for someone who read sheet music. We don't play cover songs very often, so you won't be able to pick up our music by hearing someone else play it on the radio. I don't play guitar well enough to play the songs for you either. You have to be able to pick them up on your own."

"How did you get by without a guitarist so far?"

"We have someone right now, but he needs to stop so we need to replace him soon."

"I'll try to play this, but I'm not sure if I can figure it out without hearing the song first."

"Just try," Gem told him with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "You start the song off, so whenever you're ready."

Kevin started to play and everyone else came in when appropriate. _"I wish this could be a happy song. But my happiness disappeared the moment you were gone. Don't think I ever believed that this day would come. Now all I'm feeling is lost and numb."_

They made it through the whole song, though not without incident. Gem shot Tamica a look behind Kevin's back. To make him work in their band he would need a lot of practise and help. It was time they really didn't want to invest. But Gem was starting to get scared they were not going to find anyone willing to be in their band who could just walk into Vince's place. There didn't seem to be anyone.

"Ok, well thanks for coming out Kevin. We have your number and once we've made a final decision we'll let you know, ok?"

"Sure," Kevin replied, without much enthusiasm. He packed up his guitar and left the Cobalt.

"That went well," Elliott drawled sarcastically.

"He was better than a lot of the others," Tamica offered, trying to be positive.

"Yes he was, but he still wasn't good enough for what we need. He barely got through the song off the tabs. Some of our more complicated songs would go right over his head."

"So we'll keep looking Gem, what else is there to do? If we can't keep Vince than we either find someone else or we rework all your songs for acoustic and you learn to play."

"We can't have a band with no bass and only one acoustic guitar. Where have you ever seen something like that before?" Gem asked Tamica. She was starting to get upset at what she perceived as her continued failure to find another guitarist.

"There's no chance we could talk Vince into deciding to play with us forever is there?" Elliott asked.

Tamica shot him a dirty look as Gem looked up with hurt in her eyes. "No," she answered softly.

"I'm sorry Gem. I didn't think about the other reasons why we need to replace him. I didn't mean it to come out the way it did," Elliott said as he put an arm around Gem's shoulders and squeezed her.

"It's ok Elliott, really. I'm ok. But even if we were still together, we knew he wanted out sooner or later. It's not exactly news to us that he didn't want to play with us forever. I know it was my decision to kick him out of the band, but we always knew he'd come looking for the same thing someday. It just happened sooner than later is all. You guys are right, we'll find someone. There's someone else coming in about five minutes and if he doesn't work out than we'll just keep on looking."

"Yeah, we'll find someone," Tamica said, sounding like she was trying to reassure herself as much as her two friends.

They were alerted to the presence of the next auditionee by the bar filling with natural light again.

"Hey there. You here to audition for Indigo Sound?" Gem asked the young man.

"Yeah. I'm Damien."

Damien was wearing jeans hanging very low around his hips. The jeans were very wide legged, and fell so low they eclipsed his shoes. He had a black tee shirt on, the logo of a skateboard manufacture on the front. He had both his ears pierced, an elaborate but small silver hoop in each one. His hair was jet black and straight. It fell across his forehead from part which ran down the left of his head, rather than the center, and around his ears in razor cut chunks. He had a small hoop wrapped around the lower left of his bottom lip and his right eyebrow was also pierced. The barbell in his eyebrow had balls which were coloured in blue and green swirls. It brought out the hazel of his eyes nicely. He was tall, though not quite as tall as Vince, standing about six feet instead of Vince's six two. In addition to his guitar, which was in a soft canvas gig bag and not a hard shell case he also had a khaki green canvas military surplus bag slung over his shoulder. The headphones of an Ipod snaked out of the bag and into his ears.

He looked like a skateboarder to Gem. In short, he really didn't look a thing like what she thought the next guitarist of Indigo Sound would look like. At this stage of the game, she wasn't willing to dismiss anyone out of hand over their appearance though. If he could read sheet music and actually play his instrument he was going on her list of people to have a second audition. That would make his chances pretty good, since he'd be the only one on the list to date.

"Well, I'm Gem, that's Elliott and that's Tamica. Go ahead and connect your guitar." She gestured toward the stage.

Damien moved onto the stage and started to unpack his instrument. He pulled a guitar almost looking tiger striped out of the soft side bag.

"What kind of guitar is that?" Gem asked.

"Gibson Joe Perry 'Boneyard' Les Paul," he answered rapid-fire. "You know much about guitars?"

"No, but if you know that much about them you'd get along well with Vince, our last guitar player. His is a Les Paul too, but I don't know exactly what kind."

"What's it look like?"

"Like a cream and black bullseye."

"Ah, the Zakk Wylde Signature. Nice."

Gem shrugged. "I know a lot about basses but not so much about guitars. It could be the kind you said, I suppose."

"That a Sonus you play?"

Gem looked shocked. "Yeah, I've never had anyone guess what it was like that. Zon isn't the most well known company unless you're talking to a fellow bass fanatic."

"Yeah, but the bassist of Third Eye Blind has a custom Zon based on the Sonus platform and I'm a bit of a closet Third Eye Blind fan."

Considering the first song they were going to ask him to play, that was likely a good thing, Gem mused. "Me too," was all she said.

"So, do you read sheet music?" Tamica asked, conversationally.

"Yeah, read music, tabs, play by ear. Whatever works."

The three current band members shared a look. He read music?

"Well, here's the first thing we'd like you to play." Gem handed over the sheet music for 'Semi-Charmed Kinda Life' and watched as Damien looked it over slowly before setting it down and mock strumming his guitar a few times. He looked the music over again before setting it aside. "Ok, I'm ready. What would you like me to do?"

"Just play," Gem said, with a shrug. There was nothing to it other than that.

With a shrug of his own Damien launched into the song. Gem leaned over to Tamica after watching Damien play for about a minute. "He's pretty good," she whispered.

"No kidding. He really doesn't have our look though."

"I frankly don't care at this point. If he blends as well playing with us as he does up there alone, plus can read music I don't care if he goes out and gets a hundred more piercings. We're not in a position to dismiss anyone over looks at this point."

"You got that right," Elliott broke in. "He's for real."

Damien finished the song as Gem nodded her agreement with Elliott's statement. She walked closer to the stage. "Ok, now we're all going to perform the next song to see how we work as a band, alright?"

"Sure."

Gem gave him the music for the second song and they all took the stage. The song went very well. Damien had talent and it wasn't hard to see. They all left the stage when they finished and Damien put his guitar away in its bag.

"So, when were you going to make a final decision on who you're picking?" he asked Gem once he had his guitar safely stowed away.

He seemed genuinely interested in being chosen. He wasn't the first person who had, but he was the first who wasn't awful and hoping they would pick them anyway out of desperation. Gem found herself wondering if there was a catch. Was he only eighteen, or a drug addict? "We didn't really get as far as talking about that part," Gem admitted. "But to be honest you're the only person we've auditioned so far that even came remotely close to what we're looking for. My instinct is to ask you to show up here on Thursday at eight pm to see us play and if you like what you see when we're singing our own stuff we can go from there."

"How are you going to play if you don't have a guitarist?"

"We do have one right now, but he needs out for other commitments," Gem answered vaguely. She looked at Damien. "I have to ask. Why are you willing to join this band?"

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone else bailed when they found out there wasn't any money in it yet, or they were so untalented it was obvious they were hoping we were simply desperate enough to overlook how bad they were. But you're good. So why are you seriously wanting to do this? It's not that sweet of a gig."

"I want to play in a real band," Damien said before shrugging. "I don't want to play other people's shit. I want to be involved in creating something interesting and new. I'll show up on Thursday night. If I still like what I see and think I have something to contribute, and you still think I'm what you're looking for, we'll talk more after, ok?"

"Yeah, that sounds perfect," Gem answered. Damien turned to leave. "See you!" she called after him. He waved, looking back over his shoulder. Once the door closed behind him Gem looked at Tamica and Elliott. "I think we just found our permanent guitarist."

After letting that sink in for a moment it was like it finally occurred to all three that now they didn't have to worry about Vince abandoning them with a moment's notice. The fell into a group hug with a happy squeal which quickly became a chuckle as they jumped up and down with their arms around each other's shoulders.

They found someone who could work out just as well in their band as Vince had. It would remain to be seen whether he was something of a guitar prodigy like Vince or not, but since he'd picked up Jem's song fast enough, it only stood to reason that he could pick up Gem's songs just as quickly.

"We shouldn't get too excited yet. What if he sees us play our own music and doesn't like what he sees?" Elliott asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Gem answered.

"How could he not like our stuff? It's good," Tamica said, her tone saying the issue was closed.

Elliott wisely gave in to her. If the girls wanted to take it on face value that Damien would want to be part of Indigo Sound than he'd allow them to feel that way. God knew Gem needed to have something go right for her. It was about time something did.

"Well, I have to go. I have a class in half an hour." Tamica headed for her messenger bag.

"I have to work tonight," Elliott said with a groan. He really wasn't fond of his day job.

"I have about four hours until I have to be right back here," Gem added. "If I don't talk to you guys sooner, I'll see you all on Thursday."

"See you then," Tamica and Elliott said in unison.

Gem waved as they walked out the door. Instead of leaving right away, as she had figured she would, citing her need to shower and get ready for work as her reasons, she stood on the stage behind the microphone, guitar slung behind her back. As she looked out over the empty bar room she slowly spaced out.

_The room was packed solid with people. They were talking amongst themselves and it made a loud rushing sound in the air, as they waited for the concert to start. The air felt electric with the excitement of the crowd waiting for the show to begin. The four of them stood just off stage right, waiting for their cue to take the stage._

_She was wearing a black top. It was slightly sheer and was slashed diagonally across her chest and stomach. The shirt was paired with a pair of black flair bottomed pants sitting low around her hips. Her electric blue guitar and strap seemed to glow against the starkness of her clothes. Her hair was down around her, the top layers lightened by the sun to a rich gold, and bottom layers a contrast of dark blonde, Mia's latest efforts with the scissors allowing it to have the soft waves she had come to like so much. She felt confident and excited and nervous all at once._

_She glanced at Tamica, who was wearing a burnt orange and yellow swirled peasant blouse and ripped bell bottom jeans. Her hair was coffee brown and in cornrows across her scalp until it fell off in braids in the rear, falling a quarter way down her back. Tamica looked happy._

_She looked to her left and saw Elliott standing there. He was wearing his trademark electric blue, button down shirt and indigo jeans. He had a set of drumsticks in his left hand and he was just grinning. His black hair was artfully spiked and arranged on his head, making his blue eyes stand out dramatically in his face._

_Finally her gaze found Damien, just slightly behind Elliott on her left. He had his guitar strap around his shoulder and his tongue was toying with the silver ring in his lip. His mental gymnastics were obvious from the intense look in his eyes. No one looked scared though. They all looked like they were ready. Like they knew they had finally arrived where they were meant to be._

_Their first real concert. They were ready. As the MC said their name over the PA system they took the stage. The crowd took to their feet and cheered. They plugged in their guitars, shared a look. Gem moved toward the mic._

"Gem, are you ok?"

Barry's question brought her crashing back to the real world. But it was ok. She had never allowed herself to daydream about really making it before. Surely the fact that she now was, was a good sign that her subconscious saw her making it now. Right? She shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about the future, and if we'll really have one."

"Of course you will kid. But you're going to spend the whole day here if you don't go get some supper soon. It's gone to four while you were standing there thinking."

"I should go home and see about supper and getting changed for work." Gem got down off the stage. "Thanks for letting us use the Cobalt for these auditions, Barry."

"No problem Gem. I want you to find somebody to play for you. I want to see you happy again," Barry said earnestly.

"I want to be happy again. And before that will happen I have to have the whole band situation settled. But that last guy, Damien, he was good. I think he's going to work out fine. I know we'll take him on if he likes what he sees on Thursday and is still interested."

"He sounded pretty good with you guys. But why didn't you play one of your own songs?"

"I don't know why I didn't want to audition people with our own music. I think because I just wanted him to play, I didn't want him to pass judgment on what he was playing or judge me as a songwriter before we even knew how well he would fit in. I just wanted him to judge the band on how well we handle our respective roles, not judge us for my creative ability."

"I guess that makes sense. Go home," Barry pointed toward the door.

Gem laughed. "Ok, I'm going already. See you at six."

"See you then."

Gem drove home, showered and dressed for work before starting supper for her and Mia. Mia cooked a lot of the time, but since she had nothing better to do, she figured she'd give Mia a night off. She made chicken caeser salad, not in the mood for anything heavier, and when Mia got home they sat down to their meal.

"So, how'd the auditions go?" Mia watched as her question caused Gem's face not to fall, as she had expected, but to glow with happiness.

"Excellent! I think we found somebody. He was really good and seems interested in playing with us. He's going to come down to the Cobalt on Thursday to see what he thinks and if he thinks he'd like to play with us and we still think he'd fit in I guess he's going to be our new guitarist. He even plays the same style of guitar as Vince, so his sound won't be all that different from what we're use to."

"So that means that this week will likely be the last time you need Vince to play with you?"

"I guess so," Gem answered.

Admitting it didn't hurt her as much as she thought it would. There was a bittersweet feeling to it. It was the end of a very important period in her life, and the end of Indigo Sound the way it had been born. But that didn't mean it couldn't be just as good, if not better, once it was reborn. It would be better to have Damien onboard, knowing playing guitar in a band was something he wanted to do than have Vince and always be wondering when he was finally going to get bored and leave them.

"Well, that's good."

"Yeah, yeah it is good. We can finally look to the future with a serious eye to creating something we can build on, instead of always waiting for the other shoe to drop with Vince."

"I know what you mean. I still wish there was a way for us to make having him and the rest of the guys in our lives without always thinking about what they did and if they'll do something like that again. Without it preventing you from moving on with your life and meeting other guys who might be better suited to your life and personality."

"Well Mia," Gem started. She couldn't believe she was about to say what she was about to say. "You never know what the future might bring. All you can do is sit back and see how it goes."

With that Gem finished her last bite of salad and stood up. She put her dishes in the dishwasher and headed for her room after giving the shocked Mia a sunny smile on her way by.

With a shake of her head Mia finished her meal. The progress Gem had made since finding this Damien person was astounding. If she didn't fall right back into a well of depression after Damien started to play and she stopped seeing Vince all together that was. Mia shrugged. Like Gem had just said, all she could do was sit back and let the chips fall where they would.

She added her own dishes to the dishwasher and turned it on before going to her own room to get her books. She had a lot of studying to do. The sheer amount of homework generated by a program as intense as the one she had taken on never failed to astound her. Sometimes she wondered how in hell she thought she could pull off all the school work she had to and the café. She thought that she just might have to hire someone on to work the day shift and perhaps go back to her earlier plan of opening later into the evenings and doing that shift herself. It would allow Gem to go back to work for Barry full time, something her blonde friend longed for, even if she was too well mannered and too caring to give voice to it, and would allow her to hang out at the College after classes and study with her peers.

She made a note to herself on her notebook to talk to Gem about it soon. There wasn't time before Gem left for work tonight, but soon. They wouldn't have as much money left over from the café's earnings if they had to pay someone a full time salary, but that wouldn't affect Gem that much anyway. Gem used her own money from her job to pay for all her expenses. The café paid the rent and gave Mia her spending money for the month. She knew she could get by on less. Everyone had sacrificed so much to make sure she got her second chance. It wouldn't be fair to herself or to everyone who stood behind her if she didn't do her best because she put too much ahead of her education.

Mia looked up and waved good-bye as Gem left the house for work. She knew she'd be in bed long before Gem ever got home from work. Gem stayed right until the bitter end on Friday nights and Mia knew she'd never last that long if she knew she had to get up at seven to go open her café for eight.

♫

Gem was awake and watching TV when Mia got home from the café at lunch. She tossed some bags of groceries down on the counter before coming into the living room. Gem was idly tossing one of Allegro's toys while she studied the TV. When she sensed Mia's eyes on her she looked up and stretched. "Hey. How was your morning?"

"Good. How was yours?"

"Ok. I slept for most of it." Gem made a face. "Feels like all I do is work and sleep lately."

"About that," Mia started. She felt bad when Gem looked at her and didn't hide the look of horror on her face off the bat. It was clear Gem thought she was about to be asked to take on more of the responsibility for the café and dreaded saying yes, which Mia knew she would do, if it was her intent to ask Gem to take on more hours.

"What is it Mia?" Gem asked in a resigned tone.

"I think we need to hire someone to work the Monday to Friday day shift at the café. I can't handle my course load and a full time job and I won't ask you to take on any more full days there than the Monday shift you do already. You're tired all the time Gem, and it's not helping you with your issues in your life any."

"I don't know about that Mia. I mean, can we really afford to have a full time employee?"

"I think so. If someone else worked the eight to five shift than I could start staying open until eight or nine in the evening again. That would make some extra profit because it's really the only corner store in the immediate area. I could handle three or four hours a day, but these whole afternoons are killing me. And I can tell you hate working there. I think we'll be ok if we take someone on for minimum wage. I mean, you pay your own way anyway."

"No I don't. The café pays the rent and the only reason I let that slide is because I'm working there part time and not getting a direct salary. If you hire someone than I'll have to start paying my half of the rent out of my money from the Cobalt."

"No you won't. It's my idea to fire you, as it were, from Toretto's so you don't have to. We'll still be ok."

"Mia, I won't watch you kill yourself to run that place almost single-handedly and go to school full time, and get a free ride off your work at home."

"Ok, so you'll start paying half the rent separately from the half I pay. Is that going to be a problem?" Mia asked, concerned. What if Gem couldn't afford to pay half the rent?

"No it's not a problem. I have more than enough money to get by on every month when I'm not paying rent. It's been nice, but I'll get by. At least I don't have a car payment to worry about."

"Yeah, that's true."

"Mia?"

"Yeah?"

"How can someone do something so nice for someone like buy them a car and make it into something so personal, something that shows they knew you almost as well as they know themselves, and then screw you over so bad?"

Mia sat with a sigh. "Because men don't think like we do Gem. You should know this already from dealing with your brothers. They have some odd notions about what's a good idea. What brought this about?"

"I was just thinking about you and Dom. If you think you can forgive Dominic for being such an idiot, shouldn't I think I can forgive Vince for saying what he said? Yeah, it was stupid and it hurt a lot, but what about all the other, nice things he did for me, and for you before he said what he said?"

"You'll have to figure that one out on your own Gem. Besides that, you tried to talk to him. It really isn't your fault he was drunk and obnoxious and not having any of it. All I can say is the same as what I said about Dominic. We might just have to give him a chance to explain himself and take it from there. Just don't close yourself off to the possibility that one day Vince might be able to redeem himself." Mia seemed to consider her position a moment before continuing. "But I also stand by my position that you shouldn't have anything to do with him until the day he comes to you, sober, and explains himself without yelling, cussing or making excuses."

"Without cussing? Like that will ever happen!"

Both girls laughed at that. It would be a big stretch. "What are you doing until you go to work?"

"This is it," Gem said, gesturing to the room in general.

"Want to go to the beach instead?"

"Sure! That's a great idea. Just let me get my sunblock."

The girls stayed at the beach until four thirty, then they headed for home. Gem was getting changed for work when the phone rang. She snatched up her cordless. "Hello?"

"Hey Gem."

"Cory! How are you?"

"Good. What are you doin' tonight?"

"Working. What about you?"

"Well, I was wondering if you and Mia wanted to go down to races with me, but I guess you don't if you're working," Cory sighed.

"Well, I could likely get off at eleven thirty if that helps you any."

"Hell yeah! That'd be sweet if you could. I'll give you my cell phone and you can call me when you know, ok?"

"Sure, let me grab a pen." Gem got a pen and some paper and jotted down Cory's number before promising again to call him when she knew anything and hanging up. She finished dressing before going to find Mia in the living room.

"Who was on the phone?" Mia asked.

"Cory. He wants us to go racing with him tonight. I told him we would if I could get off early. You up for it?"

"Sure, it sounds like fun. How early are you going to try and get home?"

"I was thinking eleven or eleven thirty. That work ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Call me when you know if you're going to be able to make it or not so I can start getting ready, ok?"

"Sure. I have to call Cory when I know the same thing."

"Talk to you later then," Mia called as Gem went to walk out the door.

"Later," Gem called back and shut the door behind her.

As she figured, Barry was fine with her leaving early. It hadn't been too busy on the weekends since school had gone back in. It would pick up again when people got over the culture shock of going from having too little to do to too much. But for now, Barbara could easily handle the last three hours of the night on her own. In the end, Barry called his niece to come in for a few extra hours.

Gem rushed home and got ready. Both girls headed down to the parking lot got in their respective cars before driving to Cory's together. Cory was waiting in his car when they pulled up. They drove to the warehouse and allowed Cory to take the point of their modified v, the two blue cars bringing up the rear. They managed to find three parking spots side by side and got out of their cars.

They walked over to where Hector was hanging out and started up a conversation. They had been around the alley about half an hour or so before there was a commotion at the entrance. The attention of everyone was turned toward the source of the disturbance. The cause of the excitement became clear to the girls a moment later as the crowd parted.

A red RX-7, yellow Skyline, Purple Silvia, and blue Maxima had just rolled into the alley.

The king was back to claim his throne.

"Is that who I think it is?" Hector asked, clearly in shock.

"That's my brother," Mia answered. Her tone gave away her upset at the event.

"Great!" Cory answered. It was clearly anything but. Cory's stiff posture made that clear.

Frankly, Gem didn't care about Dominic showing up. It was the fact that Vince had chosen to come to that really upset her. Would she have to see him? Would it turn into a fight? Would he be drunk, or half way there? All she could do was wait and see.

Mia was having some similar thoughts about Dominic. Did she want to talk to him? Could she avoid a fight if she had to? They both knew it was either leave before the two groups met, or stay and see what happened.

Gem gave voice to their shared thoughts first. "So, are we staying or going?"

"I say we stay. It's a free fuckin' country," Cory growled.

Gem was once again struck by how much of Vince had rubbed off on Cory while they had been working together. "We'll stay if you want. I have no problem with it. Mia?"

"We're here now. Might as well tough it out."

Gem hopped the place was big enough that they wouldn't have to talk to Dom or anyone off his team anyway. What were the odds that peasants like them would ever be in the presence of the king himself?

They all went back to talking to Hector, and to Edwin and his friends when the dark man realized they were finally back at races for the night.

♫

Letty looked around the scene from her position next to her car. She took in the careful way Dom was keeping the racer chasers away from him. She could tell it was because of more than the fact he knew she was watching and she was glad. It gave her hope. She allowed her dark eyes to move off of Dom and over to where Vince was seated on the hood of the Maxima. He looked so much like he always looked at races. Wearing dark denims and two layered tanks, sitting on the hood of someone's car, reclined back on his palms.

Only her knowledge that all wasn't well with Vince made the differences of tonight apparent to her. His eyes looked weary and his mouth was tight. He wouldn't look at anyone but Leon and people he knew from around. It was like the rest of the team was dead to him. There had been a time when he would have been play fighting with her in the middle of the alleyway, but for all his attention to her now, she might as well have been dirt under his feet. It hurt. Her eyes scanned farther out, beyond Dom and Vince out over the rest of the crowd.

When they rested on Mia and Gem, laughing at something Edwin had said, she did a double take. Mia and Gem were at races? And was that Cory with them? If Vince saw them he was libel to freak out. Letty was torn between thinking she should point them out to him just to see him finally react to _something _and making sure he didn't see them so the night could retain some semblance of peace. The decision was ripped from her hands when Dom spotted Mia.

"That my sister over with Hector?"

"Yeah, it's Mia," Letty answered reluctantly. She watched Vince's interest perk up, as much as he fought to retain his bored look and not let on.

"That Cory with her?"

"Yeah, that's Cory."

"What are we gonna do about it?"

"What'd you mean what are we gonna do about it Dom? What can we do? It's a free world. We can't stop them from coming down here if they want."

"I know that Letty. I meant are we going to go talk to them, or ignore them? They know we're here. They must have been here first to be parked way down there. Is it better if we just don't say anything to them, or should we go say hi?"

Letty thought for a moment. "Well, it would be a bit strange if we didn't go say hello to Hector and Edwin. Since Mia and Gem just happen to be there with him, it would be even more strange if we didn't say hello to them too."

When he heard Gem's name Vince couldn't even pretend to hide his interest. "Did you just say what I think you just said?" he growled at Letty.

"Yeah," she answered reluctantly.

Vince stood up and looked out over the crowd. His eyes finally settled on Mia and Gem. When Dom and Letty started to head their way he decided he'd follow. He wasn't waiting alone and Leon was walking with Letty. The walk over took some time because every second person stopped Dom to welcome him back to the scene. Being the king he was, Dom couldn't pass any of them by without saying hello back and pausing to shoot the breeze for a moment.

When they finally reached their target group Hector saw Dom first. "Dominic!" he exclaimed with a smile. "It's been too long homes!"

"Hector," Dom drawled with a smile. "You got that right."

"Dom," Edwin held out his closed fist and Dom knocked his on top with a grin.

"Edwin. How we doin' this tonight?"

"You're racin?" Edwin asked. When Dom nodded yes his face lit up. "Yes! That's what I'm talkin' about."

"First race, two g buy in. Find me second, third, and fourth and you got a race."

A murmur went around the crowd. Though the buzz was huge Edwin only got two other people who wanted to race. No one knew if it was because no one wanted to take a risk on losing their money to Dom, or if it was because everyone figured Dom was washed up after his disappearance and was no longer unbeatable. It left a pause while they waited to see if a third would step up or not.

As it became more and more clear no one else was going to step forward Vince made a bold decision. With Gem's many speeches about not being a follower from necessity and being just as good as Dominic if he really wanted to be Vince walked up to where Dom and Edwin were talking in hushed tones. He handed Edwin a roll of money. "Count me in."

Edwin looked from Dom to Vince in shock. He could sense the tension underlying the situation. He made himself scarce under the guise of needing to talk to Hector to set up the street selection.

"Hell no V. We're on the same team. We don't race each other."

"We don't feel like much of a team lately Dom and I think I want to race. If I have to race against you to do it than I guess that's just the fuckin' breaks."

"Why are you doin' this V?"

Vince shrugged. "I told you. I just want to race. Since you're already in the race it just works out that we'll be racing each other."

The two hard headed men faced each other down for a few minutes but it became clear neither was going to give in.

"As long as you know I will take your money," Dom finally relented.

"Good luck with that," Vince growled back.

He knew that Dom was seriously good. He was also counting on the fact that so was he. That and the fact that Dom had only been driving the seven again for a week or two and he hadn't had a chance to race it yet. He was going to be rusty and Vince was hoping the fact that he wasn't would give him an edge. He didn't plan to lose. He didn't want to look too close at why. He knew if he did he would see he was hoping to show Gem he hadn't fallen back into being subservient to Dom.

♫

"Is it bad that Vince just threw down to race Dom?" Cory asked as he slunk back from where he had watched the confrontation.

"He what?" Mia asked in shock.

"He just threw down to race Dom. And Dom said no but Vince wouldn't back down so they're going to race. Them and two other people."

"I can't believe it. No two people off the team have ever raced in the same race. It was one of Dom's rules. They only broke it once before and it wasn't good."

"I guess Vince just forgot the rules," Gem mused out loud. She thought she had a flash of something that might have been pride when Cory made his revelation. Vince was facing down one of his demons. "Well, let's go watch. This is going to be the race of the night, after all."

"Race of the year," Mia added. "Neither my brother or Vince will ever give in. They're going to race and no matter who ends up winning it can't end well."

"Why not?" Gem asked.

"Because if Dom wins it's going to tick Vince off and he's already pretty ticked. If Vince wins it's going to crush Dom and set the whole street racing scene on its ear. I don't know if Dom has ever lost."

"Are we going to go watch, or speculate what might happen all night?" Gem asked impatiently.

"We're gonna go watch," Cory whooped.

In the end they picked the starting line to watch from. The results might be known faster at the finish, but after the race the racers would come back to the starting line, back to the warehouse, and that was where the fallout would occur. And the fallout was going to be far more interesting than the results of the race.

The four opponents lined up. Dom got preference in where to start from and he picked the far right, much as he always did. There was a car between he and Vince, who was third from the right, and one other person to the left of Vince. They sat revving their highly tuned engines as they waited for Leon to get a clear scan on the radios. He was looking from blue car to red over and over again. He didn't figure Dom and Vince going head to head was a great idea.

Look where it had ended them up the first time it had happened. Both of them in the hospital over night. Vince with a concussion and a broken bone or two in his dominant right hand and Dom with several broken ribs, a broken nose and an eye so black it was swollen shut. Vince was big but he was quick. Dom wasn't quite so good at getting out of the way.

But when it came to the streets, Leon wasn't sure how it was going to go down. As long as there wasn't a physical fight afterward, it should be ok. He returned his attention to the scanner for a moment. It felt like a quiet night in Los Angeles. That was bad news for them. A quiet night, crime wise, meant there were plenty of cops to come bust their asses if they caught wind of the 'street tension' as they liked to put it. Leon's attention left the scanner and his green eyes scanned the crowd. When his gaze fell on Mia and Gem he groaned.

In the drama which had occurred after Vince challenged Dominic, he had forgotten the girls were here. So now Dom and Vince had even more reason to fight in the alley after they fought in the street. Now it was about more than a car race, some money and some bragging rights. Now it was about who would look like the big man to Mia and Gem. And Leon knew that there was no one on earth that Vince would like to impress quite as much as the little blonde who wasn't speaking to him.

On that note he got a hit on the police band. Hostage situation in Santa Monica. Since it was a ritzy neighbourhood they'd send lots of pigs to take care of it. It should leave a small number of cops to be summoned for something as petty as street racing. He picked up his Nextel. "I got a hostage situation in Santa Monica. We're good to roll."

"You sure?" Hector asked. "This one has to go smooth homes."

"I know that better than anyone Dawg, but this is as good as it gets. Good neighbourhood so they'll send a shit load of pigs to take care of it. We're good."

"Ok, let's race then!" Hector handed his Nextel to one of the girls beside his car and lifted his hands into the air. The four cars on the line revved their engines even higher. Three of four shot flames into the night.

♫

The crowd went so wild Gem feared for her eardrums. She was so caught up with Cory in the moment she didn't even realize she was cheering just as loud as everyone else. She glanced at Mia and like she saw the fear that was there she became more subdued. "You're really worried about them aren't you?"

"I can't help it. I just can't help but fear there's more riding on this than some money."

"Well, that's true," Gem admitted as she leaned closer to Mia to make herself heard. "There's Vince's self esteem too."

"How do you figure?"

"If he beats Dom maybe he won't fall back into being under Dom's thumb."

"Yeah, and maybe one of them will kill the other too."

Gem looked at Mia in shock. "You think?"

"They came close enough last time."

"They've raced before?"

"Yeah, and Vince won. They fought and then didn't speak for over a week."

"That's not so bad."

"They didn't hate each other before the race _that_ time," Mia reminded.

"I'll have to keep my fingers crossed than."

"Fuck, I hope C kicks his ass _on_ the street and then _in_ the street. Asshole has it comin'!" Cory said, bloodlust lighting his eyes.

"He's still Mia's brother!" Gem hissed in Cory's ear.

"Not like she talks to him."

"She might want to someday. I don't think she wants to see Vince kill him."

Cory shrugged. He clearly didn't care much either way.

Hector picked that moment to drop his arms and the cars took off with a squeal. The guy in the outside car fishtailed on launch and fell off the pace right away. The second car, a black Subaru, was off the pace, but still running with the two main players. The main competition was clearly between Vince and Dominic. The blue car and the red were side by side, flying down the public road.

From where they were standing it was hard to tell if one or the other ever got the edge. They both surged ahead at seemingly the exact same moment. Cory informed Gem it was likely when their nitrous had kicked in. Gem wasn't sure if she even wanted to know what nitrous was. She knew a small amount about superchargers and what they could do just because Vince had taught her enough to allow her to take good care of the Solara and be safe driving it. He hadn't put nitrous in her car and she was glad he hadn't, if that kind of speed was the result.

When they saw the tail lights of the RX-7 and Maxima come on they knew the race was over, but weren't sure who won. The results came back to Hector's Nextel a split second later.

Mia and Gem shared a look as the result flashed through the crowd like wildfire. Vince won. They watched the cars drive back, unsure what to expect. Leon and Letty rushed up to them at that moment.

"You gotta come with us!" Letty said, very wound up.

"Why?" Mia asked. Her uncomfortableness with Letty was clear.

"Because when they start to hit each other it's gonna take all of us to get them off each other."

"You think they'll actually come to blows over a car race?" Gem asked.

"Hell yes. After Dom told Vince to let it go and Vince forced his hand? No question. Plus the thing between them has been coming to a head since long before tonight."

"Let's go then," Gem capitulated with a sigh. She didn't want any contact with Vince or Dom, but she wouldn't stand back and watch them kill each other in front of half the city over a car race either.

The four of them ran over to where the two cars were just coming to shuddering halts. Both men bounded out of their cars, and just as Letty and Leon predicted, they locked up between their cars the second they reached each other.

"I told you not to race. We're supposed to be a team. We're supposed to be friends."

"You ain't no friend of mine and weren't long before you wrecked my life by coming back into it!" Vince spit out.

"I been tryin'. You won't let me fix things so how'm I supposed to? You god damn prick!"

"Mother fucker!" Vince roared before he got free of their grapple grip on each other and hauled off and punched Dom in the stomach.

The girls watched as the crowd formed a tighter circle around the two combatants, preventing them from reaching their side. They continued to try and fight their way through as Dom and Vince continued to take their issues out with their fists.

Vince shook his head as Dom landed a blow to his jaw. He swung at Dom and was satisfied by the twack his fist made against Dom's nose. Blood started gushing down the front of Dom's white shirt and he cried out with a roar. He came at Vince again, but he managed to sidestep and avoided the well aimed blow to his midsection. He used Dom's momentum against him and threw the larger man to the ground. He landed on him with a sense of déjà vu and pulled back his arm before letting his fist fly.

♫

"Let us through!" Letty yelled. When the man in front of her didn't listen she shoved him hard.

He stumbled out of her way with a curse. "Bitch."

She punched him in the face, but didn't slow down long enough to see if her blow had done enough damage to satisfy her ire over being called a bitch. His cry of outrage told her it was likely good enough. She didn't want to waste time on a visual confirmation. Not when Vince was busy killing Dom between their cars.

She spared a glance over her shoulder and saw that Cory, Leon, Gem and Mia were all on her heels. It was good. They were going to need all the help they could get to get Vince off Dom, who from where Letty was standing appeared to be unconscious. That hadn't stopped Vince. He was still landing blows.

"Vince, get the fuck offa him!" Letty roared.

Vince showed no signs of having heard her. She grabbed his upraised arm but he shook her off like a fly.

Letty took one look at the state Dom was in and started to panic. This was worse than last time. No one had gotten knocked out last time. And when they almost hit her they stopped. Vince was so caught up in his anger he didn't even realize he'd thrown her to the ground some distance behind himself. She watched as he hit Dom again. She felt perilously close to tears. If she couldn't make Vince stop, what hope did they have if the rest of the crowd would just rather watch the fight than stop it before Vince did something he couldn't take back?

When she saw Gem start his way she tried to get up fast enough to stop the foolish girl, but Gem was closer than she was. She watched, frozen in place by her fear as Gem walked right up beside Vince.

"Vince, stop this right now!" Gem screamed. "Can't you see what you've already done?"

Vince hauled back to hit Dom again.

"No!" Gem said firmly as she grabbed his arm. "You've done enough."

Much to Letty's shock, and she was sure the shock of everyone watching Vince looked at Gem and stopped. He looked down at Dom for a moment and it was like the reality of what he'd done crashed into him. He grabbed Gem around the waist and pressed the side of his face against her stomach.

As she watched his shoulders shake in remorse for what he had almost done she couldn't find it in her to push him away. She ran a hand over his hair somewhat awkwardly at first but with more confidence when he allowed it without flinching. "Are you hurt?" she asked softly of Vince. He shook his head no, still trying to get a hold of himself emotionally. "Can you help Leon get Dominic to Letty's car so she can take him to the hospital?"

He nodded yes and let her go.

Letty walked up to Mia as she watched Vince and Leon lift Dom between them and lay him in the back seat of her Silvia. She sighed, knowing that she'd be spending all day tomorrow trying to get the blood stains out of her upholstery. "That was fuckin' amazing. How'd she make him stop like that? Just with one word."

"I told you. He loves her. If there's one person in the world Vince cares about what they think of him, it's Gem. Just because they're fighting and not speaking didn't make that love go away. He'd never do anything to disappoint her. Not if he had a way around it."

Letty stood in awe of that kind of love. There was a time she'd had that with Dom. Now she could only hope they could again. If Dom wasn't dead in the back seat of her car. She shook her head. "Can she deal with him for the rest of the night?"

"Can she? Yeah. Should she? I don't know. I'm just starting to get her to the point she can talk about him without tearing up. Now she's got to marshal him all night?"

"I'll be in the ER with Dominic. I can't do it."

Mia gave in with a sigh. "We'll take care of Vince. You worry about my stupid brother."

"Thank you Mia," Letty said with a relieved sigh. "Can I call you for an update when I know more about how Dom's gonna do?"

"I guess so. Here's our number." Mia took a pen out of her bag and wrote the number on Letty's palm.

Letty rushed over to her car. Mia sent Leon with her and watched as Leon started the Skyline and followed the Silvia out of the alley. She knew Letty would need all the help she could get with Dominic. She looked around for Gem and found her standing beside the open passenger side door of her car, leaning toward the interior. She could only assume Vince was sitting in the Solara as she didn't see him anywhere else. So that would take care of how Vince was getting away. But what to do with the RX-7 and the Maxima? She turned to Cory.

"Can you make sure that the seven and the Maxima make it back to Dom's house? Just get people to help you, I don't even care who as long as the cars get home safe. I'd imagine that Vince will be in Gem's capable hands for the next while at least."

"I'll take care of it Mia. Do you think C's ok?"

"With a skull and hide that thick? Of course he's ok." Mia tried to smile reassuringly at Cory. That thick skull and hide also made Vince very good at ignoring his own pain and discomfort if he wanted to do so. Such as to go ahead and continue beating on someone even if he was injured bad enough that he should stop. Mia headed for the Solara.

"I'm just saying V, I don't like the way you're breathing so shallow. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm fine."

The tone of Vince's voice when he made that statement was anything but fine. Mia frowned.

"Listen to yourself Vince! You can barely talk. What's wrong with you?" Gem's tone was starting to take on a frantic cast.

"I'll be fine Gemmalynn." Mia watched a hand come out of the car to cup Gem's cheek. "I promise you I'll be ok. I just need to go lay down somewhere for awhile, ok?"

"No it's not ok. You'd never say something like that if you weren't really hurting Vince. Why can't you breathe right?"

"Think the fucker broke a couple of my ribs. Once I lie down I'll be fine. Please just run me home."

"Forget it. I'm having you go curl up somewhere and dying because there's something seriously wrong with you!"

Mia was inclined to agree. She walked up to the car and grabbed Gem by the arm, pulling her away from the open door by the wrist. Gem fell after her in shock. Mia stopped about ten feet away from the still open door of the Solara.

"Mia, I don't know what to do!" she wailed. "He's really hurt and I know it and I shouldn't even be speaking to him after everything and after tonight but I can't leave him alone someplace to die!"

"Gem, calm down." Mia took her friend by the shoulders. "You're right. You can't leave him alone. Letty took Dominic to St. Francis medical center so you'll have to take Vince to Cedars-Sinai. We can't have them meeting up again until they have some time to cool off. Cory and I are going to make sure the cars get home, ok?"

"I," Gem ran a hand through her hair as she fought to get a handle on her thoughts, "I guess so Mia. I'll call you on his cell phone later and make sure everything's ok."

"Ok. I might check on Dominic later. He was pretty messed up."

"Sure. I'll call you when I know more and if you need me for anything call Vince's cell phone. I'll take custody of it as soon as I get in the car."

Mia nodded and ran off. Gem slid into the Solara wearily. She looked at Vince, who was reclined in the passenger seat at an odd angle, clearly in pain. "This wasn't what I had in mind when I agreed to get off work early and take Cory down here to race, you know?"

He cracked one eye open a fraction before closing it again with a groan. "Is that why you came down here?"

"Yes. It certainly wasn't to prevent you from murdering someone who used to be your best friend in front of about ten thousand witnesses."

"Is Dom gonna be ok?"

She was mildly touched that he thought to ask so soon after what he'd done. "I don't know Vince. He was still unconscious when Letty left with him." Gem started the car. "Give me your cell phone."

"Why?"

"Because if Mia needs me she's going to call your phone. You don't need to be talking on the phone. You can barely stay conscious just sitting there."

Vince went to get her the phone but he couldn't get his left arm to co-operate. "It's in my left pocket but I can't get it out."

With a sigh Gem fished the phone out of his pocket before setting it on the dash of her car. She headed for the only hospital she had ever seen, which happened to be the one Mia had in mind. When she arrived she parked the car and got out before walking around and opening Vince's door. "Ok, up."

"Where are we?"

"The ER of some hospital, Vince. Where did you think I was going to take you?"

"Home," he moaned.

She hated to know he was really hurting. She was getting worried there was something seriously wrong with him. "You've got to get checked out V. I won't take no for an answer. Not with how much pain you're obviously in. Up."

He cracked his eyes open and swung his legs out of the car with a sigh. He stood up and almost fell over. Only Gem pushing her hand into his chest held him upright. She kicked the door of the car closed and used the keyless to lock the doors and arm the security before sliding his right arm over her shoulders and putting her arm around him to help hold him upright. When her hand closed over his left side he cried out. The fact that he gave away a hint he was in such bad pain scared her almost more than anything to date had. "Why won't you tell me what's wrong with you? It's not nothing!"

"Upgrade 'I think he broke some of my ribs' to he definitely broke about three of them and one of them is badly out of place," he finally admitted through clenched teeth. "And I have a splitting headache."

"No wonder! You have a black eye the size of China." She moved her grip on him from his side to his waist and tried to get him moving again. "Come on. You have to get checked out."

He started walking slowly, leaning on her heavily. More heavily than he needed to, technically. It was just that, even though he was in more pain than he remembered in recent memory, he felt better than he had in forever with her arm around him and his over her shoulders. He could smell her shampoo and it was nice and comforting. They made slow progress to the emergency room door and Gem sat him carefully in the chair in front of the duty nurse. She looked up from her paperwork.

"There must have been a rash of street fights tonight. He's the second one in the last ten minutes."

Gem fought down her panic. Mia said Letty was taking Dom to St. Francis. Not Cedars-Sinai. She scanned the waiting room. No sign of Dom, Letty or Leon to be found. The waiting room was almost empty. A blessing she was sure.

"What's the trouble?"

"He's got a headache and isn't breathing very well. He thinks he's got broken ribs on his left side and doesn't have full use of his left arm," Gem answered for Vince with a hand on his shoulder. There was nothing to show you how attached you still were to someone like knowing they were really hurt.

"Does he have ID?"

"V?" Gem asked. He didn't answer her. "V?" she shook him as she asked again.

"Wha?" he rasped as he came to, cracking his eyes open before shutting them with a squint.

"Do you have your wallet with you?"

"Back pocket," he slurred.

Gem fished it out, knowing asking him to do it wasn't happening. She fished through his cards until she found his driver's licence. Well, the one with the right name on it, but she didn't figure he'd want the nurse to know he had two with other names on them too. "That's him," she handed the card over along with his medical card, which she had also found as she searched. She slid Vince's wallet into her own back pocket rather than try to fight to get it back in his. She knew it would be hard to do, and she knew that he wouldn't want anyone going through it and seeing some of the stuff he had in there. She shook her head at his folly. _I thought he wasn't into the kinds of things he needed fake ID for anymore._

"Ok, we'll take him into an exam room right away. You must have a guardian angel with you tonight that we're not busy. Are you related to him?" The nurse switched topics.

Gem thought fast. If she said she was just a friend she likely wouldn't be allowed to wait with him and she wasn't ready to have him out of her sight. "Yes, I'm his g—fiancé," she amended.

"Ok, if you can get him up we'll move him to room one. If not I'll have to call for an orderly."

"It would be better if I could move him."

"I'll just bet," the nurse answered. The heavily muscled man looked like he had a nasty temper and the fighting skills to go along with it. He was no bigger than the last man she'd checked in, but he was scarier for some reason she couldn't put her finger on.

Gem just smiled tightly at the woman and crouched in front of Vince. "V, I need you to wake up and listen to me again."

"I'll get up in a few minutes princess, but let me sleep a bit longer. I'm so tired."

"I know you are V, but you need to come with me. It'll only take a minute." Gem's panic fought to get free again but she tramped it down. He was clearly slipping into delirium if he was calling her princess again. It was like he didn't remember all that had fallen between them in the last weeks. "Up V."

His eyes opened and he stood up with considerable effort. "That's it Vince. We're just going right into this room and then you can sit down again, ok?"

"Ok," he growled, irate at being awake and forced to move when all he wanted was to lay down and sleep for days.

Gem and the nurse helped him sit down on the bed. Gem followed the nurse to the door.

"The doctor will be right with you."

"Thank you." Gem stopped the nurse again. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure sugar, what's on your mind?" She expected to be asked about the prognosis of this 'V'.

"The man you admitted before Vince. Was he about the same size but darker and bald?"

"Yes, why?"

"He's," Gem started. She paused herself. She didn't know if Vince and Dom could get in trouble for what they had done to each other. What if Dom decided to press charges? Would he do that? Gem just didn't know.

"Did they beat each other up?" the nurse asked perceptively.

Gem nodded with a grimace. "They're best friends, but they had a falling out over something a while ago and it came to a head tonight. But they're going to be sorry as hell when they realize what they did to each other. It's just that I know Vince gave Dom a little better than he got. Is Dom going to be ok?"

"He's been admitted overnight at least. His girlfriend and sister are with him now but he hasn't come around yet. We expect him to be fine."

"Ok, thank you." Gem's head fell back and she heaved a relieved sigh. Now all she had to concentrate on was making sure Vince didn't kill anyone or flip out for the rest of the night.

The nurse left and Gem sat in the chair beside the bed Vince was on. He moved in and out of consciousness as they waited. The doctor arrived about fifteen minutes after the nurse left.

"I hear your young man was in a bit of a scuffle tonight," he said as he walked up to Vince.

"That's a mild way of putting it doctor," Gem answered. "Just let me wake him and tell him you're going to look him over."

"That's not necessary."

"It is if you're going to do anything that might hurt. He'll come to with his fists before he starts to ask questions." The doctor motioned for Gem to proceed so she did. Vince growled at her when she said that what had to be done was likely to hurt but he did allow the doctor to examine him.

They ended up giving him a local before moving his ribs back into place. Gem had to turn her head, she couldn't watch. Vince was like an invincible force in her mind. She hated to think of him really hurt. She hated to think of the worry that Mia must be dealing with, thinking her brother was really hurt and she'd never made her peace with him as well.

She realized the doctor was talking to her about then. "I'm sorry," she said with a weary smile. "I was a million miles away."

"I understand. We're going to release him. He's going to be fine and we can't justify keeping him here for his injuries when there's nothing else we could do for him and we're likely to get swamped when the bars close for the evening. We'll give you a prescription for pain killers for him. Other than that just let him sleep. Wake him every two hours or so and make sure he knows who he is, what day it is, that sort of thing. Other than that, just give him one of these pills every eight hours for the pain and let him sleep as much as he wants. I'll have an orderly help you get him to your car."

"Thank you."

Once she had Vince in her car she started for his house. She realized on the way she couldn't get him down the stairs to his room on her own. She changed her path and headed for her house. She could get him up the elevator easily enough and he could sleep in her bed while she used Mia's.

After another fight to get him up out of the car and into the building and up the elevator she had him settled in her bed in his shorts and tank top. He had fallen asleep pretty much the minute she had helped him lie down on the bed. She sat on the edge of the bed beside him with a sigh and brushed a chunk of hair back off his forehead.

_Why does fate hate me?_ she asked herself. She was just starting to get her life back on track and then fate steps in with a slap to the face. Now here she was with Vince back in her bed. It was the last thing she had ever foreseen when she had left her house earlier in the evening. On that note she stood up with a sigh and headed for the living room. She called Mia's cell phone. It was answered on the fifth ring, just before she was about to hang up. "Hello?"

"Hey Mi. How are you?"

"Ok I guess. Dom's still not awake."

"I heard when we were at the hospital. You and Letty holding up ok?"

"For now. I just hope he's ok. What will I do if I never get to tell him that I'll forgive him Gem?"

"Shush Mia. It's not going to come to that. The nurse told me he's going to be fine in a day or two, ok?"

"I know that, but I always hate it when he gets himself hurt. It's why he wanted me to be a doctor, you know. Because he knew he'd be getting himself hurt and he wanted me to be there to put him back together."

"Mia, there's more to it than that and you know it. Dom's going to be fine and you can tell him you want to work out your issues when he wakes up, right?"

"Yeah, you're right. How's Vince?"

"Passed out in my bed off a concussion and prescription pain killers. He's got three broken ribs and had a dislocated shoulder too. They wouldn't keep him in the hospital because they said there was nothing else they could do for him but let him sleep."

"Why's he in your bed?"

"Because there was no way I could shlep his overgrown butt down a flight of stairs when he's half asleep. It had to be our place. I'm going to use your bed and go to sleep if you don't mind. I have to wake up every two hours and wake him to make sure he can still wake up."

"I don't mind. I'm going to stay here with Letty until Dom wakes up. She's not taking the whole situation so well." Mia paused for a moment. "Gem?"

"Yes Mia?"

"I'm sorry that you're getting dragged back into him like this. I wish there was a way around it."

"It's ok Mia. I'll be ok. When he wakes up tomorrow he can go home. Until then someone has to watch him and with you guys all busy with Dom there's no one else. I'll be ok. I'm going to go to bed."

"Night."

"Night, call me if you need anything. I'll find a way to help you, ok?"

"Ok."

They hung up and Gem went back into her room to check on Vince and grab some night clothes. She crossed to the side of the bed. "Vince, you ok?" she asked loudly.

He moaned, but he opened his eyes and squinted up at her. "Where the hell am I?"

"My place. I couldn't get you down the stairs at your place . What day of the week is it?"

"Depends on what time it is. Either Saturday or Sunday."

"It's Sunday. What's the date if it's Sunday?"

He answered her grumpily, irate at being kept up when all he wanted to do was sleep off his concussion and the heavy pain killer she'd slipped him. But he was correct and it took a bit of the load off her mind. "Ok, I'm going to go get some sleep in the other bedroom. I'll be just down the hall so call me if you need anything, ok?"

"Gem?"

"Yes?" she asked with a sigh.

"Don't leave me alone, please?"

She cursed herself as ten times the fool because she couldn't say no to him. She changed her clothes and climbed into the bed, pulling the covers around her and turning on her side as far away from him as she could get. Allegro jumped onto the bed and found his spot over her head. She had the presence of mind to set the alarm for two hours in the future before she allowed sleep to claim her.

After the third time that Vince woke up at her command and answered questions about where he was and what day it was and what had happened she figured he was going to be ok and didn't set the alarm again. She figured she'd get as much sleep as she could before the long day she knew she had coming. And when Vince woke her up in the grips of one of his rare but violent nightmares she had no choice but to comfort him and allow him to crush her to his chest with his one good arm. She ran a hand through his hair and crooned nonsense to him, hoping he would go back to sleep and not hurt himself further. For once fate seemed to smile on her and he did so. When she next woke up it was almost lunch time. Vince was deeply asleep and she left him that way.

She gathered up clean clothes and took a shower before dressing in the bathroom. She headed back into her own room and found Vince awake, but looking pretty woozy. "How do you feel?" she asked, feeling his forehead for a fever.

"Concussed and drugged."

Gem couldn't fight the chuckle that escaped her. "You got the nail pretty much on the head. How does your side feel?"

"It and my shoulder are on fire."

"I'll get you another one of the pain pills the doctor prescribed."

"No thanks," he said. She looked at him quizzically. "I got hooked on them after my arm the first time. I'll be ok without."

The gruff admission made her take pity on him again, even though her anger had returned with the daylight. He had beaten Dominic to a pulp over a stupid car race. Of course, they all knew it was over way more than a car race. The car race had just been the catalyst for all Vince's frustrations over every other thing Dom had ever done to him to come out in a physical release.

"I'm going to take Mia a change of clothes and some coffee. You should likely try to go back to sleep."

Rather than take her advice he sat up and swung his legs over the side of her bed. He sat there for a moment shaking his head, clearly trying to get his bearings. "I'm fine. I'll get up and go with you."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea right now V."

"It'll be fine Gem. Just get Mia's shit together and I'll get dressed."

"You don't get the right to order me around anymore Vincent. You lost it back when," she paused for thought. "Back when you said what you said."

"I didn't mean it like to be bossy Gem. I just meant it reassure you that I'll be on good behaviour. Just do what you gotta do and I'll be ready when you are, ok?"

"Ok," she gave in with a sigh. She was back in her room a few moments later when his cursing filled the air. "What is it?" she asked as she pushed into her room. His problem became obvious when she walked into the room. He couldn't pull his pants up with his left arm still too sore to be any good to him. She couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out at the sight of him with his pants around his ankles. The hardship was less than he deserved. "Want a hand pumpkin?"

He snarled at her and went to answer with a rude come back. He stopped himself in time. After their tentative truce the last the he wanted to do was alienate her or hurt her feelings. "If you wouldn't mind." He couldn't prevent the snarling tone to the answer.

She set the things she had gathered up for Mia down on her bed and gave him the hand he would never have asked for before showing him where the bathroom was. "You think you'll be ok on your own in there?" she asked as he walking into the room.

"I dunno. I might need your help again. You up for it?" He asked, a suggestive smile on his face as he looked back over her shoulder.

Gem realized her mistake in a heartbeat. "I'm sure you'll be fine," she said and shut the door between them with a jerky movement. It didn't muffle his laughter enough for her to miss it. When he immerged a few minutes later she was still bright red.

"You ready?"

"Yeah. You sure you coming along is a good idea?"

"Yeah. I'll have to say my piece sooner or later."

"He might not even be awake yet."

Vince flinched. "That bad huh?"

"Yes, that bad."

"Let's get this over with."

They headed down to the car together and Gem drove to the hospital.

"You handle this car good. You really grew into the five speed."

"Thanks. I love my car. Thank you for building it for me."

He shrugged off her thanks. "I wanna think of you out there in that fuckin' Honda even less now that you live in your own place," he growled.

Gem let it go. They pulled into visitor parking and stopped the car in a space before inquiring which room Dominic was in and heading up the elevator. Gem pushed into the room first to find Letty and Mia sitting side by side at Dom's bedside. Gem was glad to see that Dominic was awake, at last. "Hey," Gem said softly. "Mia I brought you some clothes and coffee. I'm sorry I didn't think to bring you anything to wear Letty."

"Don't sweat it girl. I'ma be goin' home soon anyway."

"Good. That's good." Gem handed Mia the bag. "I'll leave you all alone then, I just wanted to see how everyone was."

"What did you do with V?" Letty asked. "Did you murder him in his sleep?" She chuckled.

"Not quite, no." Gem fought off a small smile and lost. "He's fine. He's waiting in the hall. He wouldn't stay in bed so I'm just going to run him home when we leave here."

Dom finally spoke. "Could you sent him in and give us a few minutes to talk?"

"You sure that's wise?" Gem asked softly.

"I don't think he'll finish me off in the hospital, no. I'm kinda bummed I didn't get him as good as he got me. What's his damage?"

"Three broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, concussion, and a heck of a black eye. But he won't take anything for the pain because he got addicted the," Gem trailed off guilty, realizing it was like throwing Vince's last hospital stay in their face.

"Finish the sentence Gem," Mia prompted.

"Last time he needed them." She sighed. "I'm quite sure he wouldn't appreciate me revealing that weakness to you guys, so let's just pretend I didn't, ok?"

She and Mia shared a look. They had never even discussed the nightmares they both knew Vince had on occasion. They were both that sure he'd be irate if he knew they talked about him that way they just never had.

"If you're sure about what you want I'll tell him you want to speak to him though."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

The girls all quit the room. Gem walked up to Vince. "He's awake and he's asking for you. Think you want to see him?"

Vince ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah." He started into Dom's room. "Wait for me to finish would you? I have some things I'd like to talk to you about, if you're willing."

"V, I'm your ride, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Ok. I doubt I'll be long."

"Take your time." Gem sat in a chair which was sitting in the hall and waited for Vince to come out of the room. He was in talking to Dom for about half an hour before he came out again, looking sheepish.

"Sorry. I didn't realize how long we kept you waiting. He'd like to talk to you, if you'll talk to him."

It felt like a low blow, to ask to talk to her when he was in a hospital bed. How was she going to say no? "Don't worry about it. I guess I better make a few minutes for the invalid, huh?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I guess so."

They traded places and Gem headed into the room. She stood stiffly beside the bed, unsure what to do with herself or what to say.

"Thanks for agreeing to see me," Dom started.

"Sure," Gem answered, unable to forget her manners, even under such circumstances.

"Have a seat. Much as I hate you guys seeing me like this when the bull is out wandering around, there's not a lot I can do about it." Dom smiled to take away the insult of his words and Gem felt a small measure of the pull Mia and Letty had assured her he had. There was something about that smile. _He left Vince to feel like he might want to kill himself all alone! _That thought brought her back to her angry place. Too bad that place wasn't as angry as it once had been. She sat.

"Back in the day, before everything went down there was this guy." Dom started, looking at his hands which were folding in his lap. "And this guy had a reputation in the streets to uphold. And somewhere along the line having a rep for driving a car faster than other people got mixed up in his head with a rep for being a huge player who could have any girl he wanted.

"He already had a great girl and he knew she was great. But the guy was young and never outgrew stupid either and sometimes he resented that girl for being so great because it meant that he knew how lucky he was and didn't feel worthy of her a lot of the time. So he cheated on her with these other, lesser girls who didn't mean anything, but didn't remind him of how great they were so he didn't have to feel unworthy. And sometimes he resented his guy friends for being happier with their situations than he was and for not having half the responsibility for so many other people's happiness like he did, so he'd mess around in their lives to try and make them as confused and hurt as he was by his life.

"It was stupid, but back in the day, when this guy was trying to convince himself all that mattered to him was the freedom of being the fastest, of flying for ten seconds at a time, he didn't let himself see what he was doing to his family. And then money got really tight for him and his family and he and his best friend cooked up this plan to get all the money they needed. They both knew it was stupid but they were young and they decided to do it anyway. The great girl and their other friends got off on the rush too, so it actually brought them closer, for a while.

"But then one day everything fell apart. This guy watched as his girl almost got killed by flipping her car off the highway about eight times. The fact she was even there driving that car was all his fault. And then his best friend, the one he'd cooked the scheme up with and took the most dangerous job for himself in the whole thing because it was just his nature to want to protect the rest of the family got hurt doing that job. And he got hurt because he took that job on to protect the first guy and the girl and the other two guys who weren't as tough as he and his best friend were.

"And then this blonde guy that was only still around because the first guy kept him around ended up being a backstabber who broke the first guy's baby sister's heart. And when all the fall out from all of that was done happening that first guy panicked. He sent his girl and the one of his friends who was left and not hurt away to a place he knew of so he could meet them there and then he ran."

Dom finally found the courage to meet Gem's troubled aquamarine eyes. "He was a stupid asshole, that first guy. He didn't stop to think of anyone but himself because he panicked. Once he was done and realized what he had done, he convinced himself it was too late to go back. He convinced himself that everyone was better off without him.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I was an idiot. I was a fuck up. I fucked up on my sister. I left Mia to deal with Jesse's death alone and I left her stuck taking care of Vince even though I knew he's a terrible patient. I let Jesse down because I should have been looking out for him at Race Wars but I was too caught up in my own agenda. I let Vince down because it was easier to let him do the hard job than to fight with him or to have to worry about doing it myself. I let Letty and Leon down by ripping them away from their family for over a year and not giving them much choice in the matter. Fuck, I even let Brian down by taking his keys instead of waiting to get picked up for what I'd done and taking the blame for it all like I should have. Even Brian had to go on the run and give up his job all over letting me have a few more months or years of running from my responsibilities."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because Mia brought it to my attention that you thought I was checking you out with an eye to trying to take you from Vince. I won't deny that's something that I use to try to do with Vince and Leon's girls they brought home. I won't even deny that it's something I managed to do more than once. But it wasn't anything I ever had any idea to do with you. I'm not saying you would have fallen for it anyway," he held up a hand to cut off her outraged answer. "I'm just sayin' it was never my intent. I was just trying to figure out what it was about you that had Vince so infatuated. You're not really the type of girl he was into before everything went down."

"Why? Because I'm not pretty like those girls from races and don't paint my clothes on?"

"No, because he normally would have run the other way screaming from any girl looking for a commitment, let alone one he wanted to give that commitment to. But he didn't run from you. He let you get deeper into his life on purpose. I was curious what about you had caused that to happen. It wasn't a bad kind of curious, but it was there."

"I'm glad you cleared that up Dominic, but I don't know what it changes."

"Now that you know where Vince was coming from, maybe you could see your way into rethinking how badly you took his outburst in the kitchen. He was just talkin' out of his ass to try and head me off. And now you know I gave him lots of reason in the past. We all broke Vince and hurt him badly. Mia too. We all had our reasons to use him and all had our ways to keep him in line. Well, maybe not Leon." Dom shook his head. "But from what Mia says you were staring to make him better, make him normal. And then I came back and ruined it all. I'd just like to see that old Vince back more often and like Leon says, when he's around you or looking at you or talking about you I see flashed of him the way he use to be. Long before any of this stuff happened. He was a better person back then. You could make him that Vince all the time. If you just found it in you to talk to him."

"I don't know if I have it in me to go back to that place Dom. My heart and trust aren't two things I can put back together on a whim because you're sorry. It doesn't matter how really sorry you are. It's still a big mess."

"Just think on it. It's all I can ask, and more than I have a right to ask of you, I know. But I think that I have a chance to have some of my old relationship back with Mia and even Vince after the conversation we just had. But they both love you, and I don't want either of us to come between them and the other, you know?

"I was holding the responsibility for all these people in my hands and I tripped. I know that. I'm so damn sorry. If you could just see your way into believing me when I say I'm aware of it now, I'm changed."

"I'll think about what you've said."

"Ok, thanks for hearing me out."

Gem nodded and left the room. She had a splitting headache now that she had so much to think about. She just wanted to take Vince home, leave him there, and be alone for awhile. When she left the room Vince stood up and Letty and Mia went back in. Mia stopped for a moment to ask Gem if she was ok. She assured Mia she was fine and watched as the door closed behind her. "Ok, let's go."

"You ok?"

"Fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I have a headache. I'll be fine. Come on, I'll run you home."

They headed for the car, Vince walking slower than Gem was used to. She slid behind the wheel and waited until he had his belt done up before she started the car. She pulled out of the lot, driving sedately for once. Her head wasn't able to take any speed or sharp corners.

"Gem?"

"Yes?" she asked. Her tone was short. She wasn't interested in having a deep, soul searching conversation.

"I'd like," Vince paused, sighed, and ran a hand roughly through his hair. "I'd like a chance to explain myself."

"You don't have to Vince. I know what use to go on and I know why you thought the way you did. We don't have to rehash it now."

"I know you know all about Dom and what a dog he use to be. There's more to it than that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You were right. I was scared. I was scared that I'd wake up one day and realize one of two things. That you had realized that I was right all along and you were too good for the kind of life I could give you, or on the other hand, that I had held you back from the life you could have had all because I was selfish and I wanted you in my life instead of wanting you to have the life I knew was out there for you. I was getting panicked about both those things and when Dom came back I felt totally backed in a corner. I reacted the way I did because I was plain terrified. I don't think I was as scared back in the Alley when I thought I'd gone and killed the moron as I was when those two things became clear to me."

"That's just ridiculous Vince. I could have had my life as a performer and my life with you. I could have made time and a place for both. I wouldn't have had to choose. And if it came down to it I would have chosen you of my own free will. I was happy."

"But the only thing you ever wanted for yourself was to make it as a performer."

She shot him a quick glance before turning her eyes back to the road. "The only thing I ever wanted was to be successful and independent from my family. If that ended up happening with you instead of with the band that would have been fine with me. I won't lie, I want to make it as a band now more than ever. But I could have been happy the way we were before too."

"Well," Vince looked out the passenger side window of the car, trying to scrape together his courage for what he wanted to say. "If you could have been happy the way it was before whether you made it or not, maybe you could be again?" He rushed to elaborate before she could interrupt. "You having your own place will be ok. We can just sorta date again. Take it slow. I can show you that I can do better!"

"Vince, it's not that simple for me. I was there. I heard what you said." She spared a look his way again and hated the strain in his face. "I'll think about it ok? Maybe we could start with just trying to be friends again and see if it goes anywhere from there, ok?"

He sighed. "I guess so."

Gem took him home and made sure he made it into the house before she pulled away and went home. When she got home she took a long, hot bath and put her Blue Rodeo CD on. It allowed her time to do the thinking she wanted to and gave her muscles and headache time to relax away.

After the events of the evening previous and morning present she was sure of one thing. She had it in her to be friends with Vince. Maybe she didn't have it in her to date him again. That much she wasn't sure about. But she could find it in her to be his friend again. If it grew to more again, nature would just have to take its course. She could also envision a time when she could be friends with Leon and Letty as well.

She just wasn't sure about Dominic. His story had mostly rang true, but parts of it hadn't felt as sincere as she would have liked. She would have a lot more thinking to do on the subject of letting Dom into her life before it was something she was willing to do.

She would also have a lot more thinking to do on how far into her world she was willing to allow Vince again.

When she got out of the bath she decided she wasn't in the mood to sit at home. She took her car for a nice long, fast drive and came home. When she got back, she put pen to paper.

Her week went well from that point on. She and Mia started interviewing people for the job in the café. Mia picked someone on Wednesday. The new girl was training with them during the week and was going to take over fully on her own on Monday. Gem was so thrilled she didn't know the words to express it. Her time at the café being over was one of the best things that had ever happened to her. Not to mention time went faster for her when the new girl was there. It was someone to talk to.

She allowed Vince to take her to a movie on Tuesday and ducked Mia's disapproving look about it with a sheepish smile. She didn't know how to explain to Mia how much more settled and correct her life felt since allowing Vince back in. Well, in the limited and restricted way she had done so. She still found herself being cautious around him. She had to think that would fade with time.

She had her song finished no sooner than Thursday morning. She hadn't ever gathered up the courage to tell Vince she had finally managed to replace him, or at least thought she had. She knew he would have been irate about it before Sunday, but she was hoping now that they were being friendly again he would just be relieved he didn't have any responsibility for the band anymore.

She, Tamica and Elliott were talking to Damien in the green room on Thursday night when Vince walked into the room, guitar case in hand.

"Hey V," Gem said as she looked up from the music sheet she was showing Damien.

"Hey." He stood waiting for an introduction.

Gem stood up. "Vince, this is Damien. Damien, Vince. Vince, Damien is going to watch us tonight and if he likes where we're going as a band he's going to take over guitar for you."

Vince nodded. He had known the day was coming that Gem found someone permanent. Since he wasn't sure what he wanted himself he'd never told Gem _not_ to replace him. He wasn't sure how he felt about the fact she had, however. He simply held his hand out for his music, which Gem surrendered with a shuttered look his way. He watched as Gem and Tamica left the room to talk to Barry and Elliott followed them. He started to memorize. He looked up once he had his music figured out to see Damien picking out something on his own guitar.

"Not bad," Vince said, gesturing toward Damien's instrument.

"Thanks. I hear yours is a Les Paul too."

"Yeah," Vince answered, shoving his guitar case toward the younger man with his foot.

Since it was clearly an invitation to take a peek, Damien did so. "Nice. Zakk Wylde huh? Doesn't really seem to fit in with this band very much."

Vince shrugged. "No, but it did fit in with the kind of music I use to do before I met Gem." He nodded toward the instrument cradled to Damien's chest. "Tom Perry ain't exactly her style either."

Damien grinned. "No, but he use to be mine," he threw Vince's own words back at him.

"You any good?" Vince asked gruffly. He didn't want Gem stuck with some second rate musician in the name of getting on with her career.

"Not bad. You?"

"I'm pretty good. But I guess you'll get to see that first hand here shortly."

"Sure will. So, mind if I ask you something?"

"Naw, go nuts." Vince didn't know why or what, but something about Damien just took his guard down. He instinctively liked the new man.

"Why are you quitting on her? It's not hard to see there's more there than you wantin' to move on and its oblivious you and her are more'n friends. So why?"

"This isn't what I do. I only started because she needed a guitar player and I didn't see anyone else signing up for the job back then. I'll give you a little piece of advice. Don't let Miss Gemmalynn anywhere near a guitar that isn't a bass. She'll shatter your eardrums within three chords."

"That bad?" Damien asked, his pierced brow cocked.

"And worse," Vince confirmed.

"Girl sure can sing."

"That she can."

"Whatever's up between you two, is it gonna be a problem in the future?"

"Nope. Gem and I, we're cool now."

Damien clearly didn't buy it, but he did let it drop. A fact Vince was grateful for. The rest of the guys returned to the room. Damien went to find a seat in the audience to watch the show and a moment later the band got called to the stage.

"Hey everyone! We're all set for another night here at the Cobalt and our song selection for the evening will again be another never before heard tune I wrote. I hope you enjoy 'In the Rough."

They started to play. There was about twenty seconds of music only, mostly guitar and drums before Gem started to sing.

"_You say you fell while holding diamonds in your hands. It's your fault for running holding diamonds, I said. And I offer no sympathy for that. I hear that it was you who died alone. And I offer no sympathy for that. Better off I sparkle on my own. And someday—yah—yah love will find me, in the rough. Someday—yah—yah, love will finally be enough."_

From where Dom was sitting, watching and listening it sure didn't sound like Gem had been able to find much favourable in what he'd said to her. He couldn't think of anyone else her song could be addressing, as she was again talking to Vince.

♫

Gem really hoped her feelings came across. That while the first part of her verse was about Dom and how she felt about him, the part about love finding her while in the rough was about how she needed a break from the seriousness of her relationship with Vince, but that someday they would both find their love for each other enough.

"_I turned around three times and wound up at your door. Now you say you know all you did not know before. And I offer no sympathy for that. I hear that it was you who died alone. And I offer no sympathy for that. Better off I sparkle on my own. And someday—yah—yah, love will find me, in the rough. Someday-yah—yah, love will finally be enough."_

"_I got your love letters and I threw them all away. I hear you think that I'm crazy. I'm drivin' 95 and I'm driving you away. I shine a little more lately. Ohhhh. Someday—yah—yah, love will find me, in the rough. Someday—yah—yah love will finally be enough. Someday—yah—yah love will find me in the rough. Someday—yah—yah, love will finally be enough._

"_I shine a little more lately," _she finished with a smile.

She was so happy with In the Rough. She did shine a little more lately. Having all the things in her life sorted out, or sorted out for the most part made things so much easier to deal with.

That was until she saw a very sad looking Dominic sitting alone in the audience. She hadn't expected him to show up. She knew the song came off like she still hated him, and that wasn't the real message. But now he was going to think it was. She sighed. She was going to have to go explain how it was more about her inability to forgive him for what had happened but how she had found the ability to look beyond it within herself. How she found it in herself to shine despite of it.

If it wasn't Vince she was setting off with her need to put her life into a song, it was someone else. She shook her head and headed Dom's way. "I didn't expect you to come down here."

"I guess not."

"Mind?" Gem asked as she pulled out one of the other chairs at Dom's table.

"No," he answered.

She sat. "Listen. I know how that came off. I knew how it would, there was just nothing I could do about it. But the point I was attempting to make wasn't that I was going ot continue to hold everything against you. It was that I can't forgive it, but I can let it go and go on to still shine as myself. Do you get it, do you think?" She didn't' want to be in a fight with Dom so soon after Mia had finally started talking to him again.

"I guess," Dom gave in. "So you and Vince are talking again, huh?"

"Looks that way."

"I can't tell you how much more relaxed the house is now that we're all talking again and I know that I have you and the way you played more than fair to thank for it."

Gem shrugged. "I didn't do anything I didn't want to do, so don't make me out to be some sort of super woman." Gem stood up. I should get back to work.

Dom watched her go. She got stopped by a dark haired man over by the hall to the green room.

"So, Damien, what did you think?"

"You wrote that whole song, all alone?"

"Yeah. I've had help on some of them as far as the music goes, but that one I got done by myself." Gem resigned herself to hear that they weren't doing the kind of music that he wanted to be involved in.

"Well than Gem Davis, if you shine more lately I guess I'm gonna shine along with you, if you still want me."

"Heck yes we do!" Gem grinned. "Welcome aboard."

With a grin of his own Damien shook her hand and left with his gear, promising to call her sometime over the weekend to make arrangements for the practise session he insisted they were going to have to start having.

Gem darted back to the green room to find Tamica and Elliott. "He's in!" she hollered.

"No shit?" Tamica asked.

"No kidding," Gem confirmed.

Elliott and Tamica cheered. Vince shot her a smile as he finished packing up his guitar. He wasn't as exuberant as the other two. "You know you'll still be welcome to come and hang out down here any time you want to, right? Well, as long as you don't go back to getting stupid drunk in the corner," Gem amended, going to sit on the arm of Vince's chair so no one else would hear.

"I know. I'm happy for you guys." He was. But it was also bittersweet for him. Going and playing Gem's music, being involved in her life so deeply was important to him, and now if he didn't want to lose her he was going to have to find another way to share that connection with her. But he'd find a way, he resolved. He was going to prove how much he'd changed to her if it was the last thing he did. "Dom get over what you said?"

"Once I explained it to him. I have to get back to work. You sticking around or going home?"

"Going home. My arm's still kinda fucked up."

"Didn't show," Gem said even as she glanced over him, looking for visible evidence of his pain.

"Good. I'll call you later—over the weekend. Ok?"

"Sure. Talk to you then." She watched Vince leave before leaving the green room herself. She wasn't in the mood to answer to her friends about her renewed friendship with Vince. She went back to work, able to finally enjoy her job again now that she wasn't feigning happiness in the face of all the happy people around her.


End file.
